When Time Isn't Enough
by Jinko
Summary: Draco Malfoy's life is turned upside down when his son from twenty years in the future shows up. He brings with him word of death and destruction. He wants to stop Voldemort from winning like he did in his own time. HxD COMPLETE
1. PrologueCh1: Chronos

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

_**Warnings: Boy-love-slash-goodness. I don't know if it'll be of the graphic nature, though. Slight angst (seriously, only the minimal stuff. This isn't my vent fic; I'll leave that for 'My Own Control' or 'The Story We Write'...This one's happier, I swear it...!!).**_

_**As always, I have a theme in my chapter titles. I went for Gods and Goddesses this time. **_

_**Reviews are always appreciated. I have twenty chapters planned, so it's not going to be as long as MBUS and I do hope it meets the expectations following the success I had with MBUS.**_

_**Summary: COMPLETELY DISREGARD HALF BLOOD PRINCE AND DEATHLY HALLOWS...!! Dumbledore is still alive and there aren't any Horcruxes because I hate plotted the end of the bloody things. Okay?? XD. **__**Fifteen-year-old Scorpius appears in Albus' office, claiming to be the son of seventeen-year-old Draco Malfoy. He can't reveal the identity of his Papa. In his time, however, Harry Potter was killed by the Dark Lord. He was sent back to help change the events that ruined his life.**_

**By the way...is August the first..!! Is my nineteenth birthday todays!! Woot me!!**

**Enjoy...!! **

**When Time Isn't Enough**

**By Jinko**

**Prologue:**

It was purple and it was vile and it was likely to put him through hell. It was the first time he'd go through such physical pain, but he figured it couldn't possibly be any worse compared to the pain he had suffered emotionally.

After losing both of his parents, Scorpius James Malfoy-Potter couldn't imagine anything that could hurt him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

He looked over to his mentor-the one person he considered his family. He sat next to him, supporting his upper body on a cane as he leant forward. His once jet black hair was grey. The voice his dad once explained as smooth was gravelly and weak. His body was destroyed from years of torture. He shook with every move he took. Severus Snape was the walking dead (on the days he could walk), and he was more than worried for the youth before him.

"Yes, Uncle Sev. I need to do this," Scorpius reassured the potions master.

However, when he looked down at the bubbling glass in his hand, he couldn't hold back the look of fear on his face.

The potion was new. No one had made such progress in the potion world. Everyone who tried was killed by the Death Eaters.

It was a potion designed to take a single person back into the past for an unlimited amount of time.

Scorpius was the only person to successfully brew any potion with such capabilities in secrecy. Luckily, his dad was the one who patented it and left it for him. All Scorpius had to do was tweak it until it was perfect for what he wanted.

"I don't want anyone else to live through what we've seen," Scorpius continued, more for himself than his uncle.

He had seen so much death. All of his friends, his parents, his sister-they were all gone, never to come back to him.

Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, had perished. He had fallen to the evils of Lord Voldemort only three months before the potion was finished. In a harsh battle taking place within the Ministry of Magic, Voldemort slowly and deliberately stomped the thirty-seven year-old to death. The remains were given to his pet snake to eat.

Albus Dumbledore, the only man Voldemort ever feared, had taken his own life after being captured by the Death Eaters. He refused to allow them to torture any information out of him and bit off his tongue the moment they threw him into a cell in the Malfoy Manor. That had taken place nineteen years ago, long before Scorpius' time.

The other members of the Order of the Phoenix steadily lost their lives.

"Your papa would probably be prouder of you for that one," Severus sighed.

Scorpius gave him a weak smile. "And dad?"

"He'd think you were insane for going through with this."

"He'd know the truth then."

The concoction continued to bubble so far away from any source of heat. He brought it up to his lips and paused.

"Remember not to reveal anything that'll threaten lives."

"I know."

"Good luck."

"Thanks," Scorpius breathed before throwing back his head, downing the entire glass.

Other than a bitter taste in his mouth, he didn't feel any different.

The teen looked around his surroundings. He and Severus were in what was Albus' office. The old trinkets and glass objects had all been shattered. Hogwarts might have been the only place other than the Potter household that was untouched by Voldemort's hands, but the Death Eaters certainly did know how to destroy a place.

His family home was still there. It was sealed off to the rest of the world. Scorpius couldn't imagine the heartbreak he'd suffer if the home he grew up in was tainted by the Dark Lord. He didn't have very many happy memories of his parents and he really didn't want them to be destroyed.

Scorpius' thoughts were cut short when he started to feel queasy. All of the glass objects started to reform around him. He blinked his emerald eyes to clear them. Piece by piece, they started to restore to their previous lustre. Focusing as much as he could, his eyes darted to Severus. He was still the same broken man.

Severus was speaking to him. He could see that mouth moving, but no sound was reaching his ears. He felt the hand grab at his shoulder moments before the cobwebs disappeared from the corners. Some of the men and women in the portraits returned.

The potions master disappeared from the room completely before Scorpius lost the ability to see.

And then there was the pain.

It tore at him, as if he was having his limbs ripped from his body. He had never lost a limb, but he could easily hear the bones popping and snapping out of place. He couldn't hear his screams, though.

He knew, however, that he did what he hadn't done for months, and that was cry out for his papa. Scorpius knew the words came from his mouth before he could stop them.

And that was the last the teen registered before everything ended.

-

**When Time Isn't Enough:**

**Chapter One: Chronos, Greek God of Time**

-

_I've never been in so much pain before. Papa tried to teach me a thing or two about fighting against the Dark Lord and his followers, but he never once allowed me to feel anything like this. He always said that I didn't have to be exposed to any more pain. He said that losing Dad and Lily was enough. He wanted to protect me from any form of pain, and that's why he said he would be there for me._

_Now, I am alone, and I'm suffering more pain than I ever could have imagined because he _couldn't_ protect me. He left me just like Daddy left us. _

_And the physical pain caused by this potion is unlike anything I could have ever imagined._

_If Papa and Dad could put up with it when they tried to protect me, I can do it for the future. No one else has to go through this ever again. _

_Only me. _

_I'm sorry Papa, but I need a little more pain to make things better. I'm sorry I'm deliberately going against what you wanted and am causing myself this agony. _

_But I can't let anyone else do it._

_So I took the potion you made me promise never to drink._

_I'll be able to apologise to you in person. I'll see you and Daddy again._

-

There were many members in the Order of the Phoenix. Last year had resulted in several recruitments. Only, there were a mere handful of trusted members who were allowed to sit in on the meetings. Included in this 

was Albus Dumbledore, the founder of the Order, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, Rubeus Hagrid, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Newly inducted into the largely adult group was the young Harry Potter, who was determined to know every step that was being taken to defeat the Dark Lord.

They were in the middle of a meeting, though only Albus, Minerva, Remus, Severus and Harry attended, when they were horribly disrupted.

A tearing noise interrupted Albus' words about the protection of the castle moments before a space in the office split open before their eyes. Wands were drawn in record time in an attempt to protect themselves from whatever intrusion or danger it might have brought.

What they instead found was a shaking form that dropped from the tear moments before it sealed back up.

The form was draped in a heavy cloak, and was curled up in the foetal position in the middle of the floor, cringing in what appeared to be pain. The only identifiable feature visible was the platinum blonde hair sticking out from under the material.

The wands never once wavered.

Harry's eyes narrowed at the figure when he felt his heart start to beat faster. There was something strange about this person. Some instinct deep inside him screamed out for him to lower his wand, but he stood his ground.

And it stung him to see everyone with curses on their lips.

He felt his body move toward the other, his legs taking the steps without him knowing it. There was a need to protect this person, no matter what. He wanted them to feel safe.

"Potter," Severus hissed from behind him as Harry knelt down, his wand slipping from his hand and onto the floor.

The figure moved, causing everyone to jump slightly. Harry gently helped the coughing and wincing person up onto his knees.

"It's okay," Harry promised, supporting him by his shoulders. "We're not going to hurt you."

The coughing fit stopped, allowing the other to uncover his face. What was staring up at Harry shocked him.

Draco Malfoy's face was on this boy, but his eyes were emerald green and sparkling with tears.

Only, his tears didn't look like they came from his physical pain.

"It's you-you're alive," the boy breathed and the tears spilled over. Before Harry could stop him, he launched himself up and wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders, pulling him in as closely as possible.

Something sparked deep within Harry. Having this boy embrace him was like nothing he had ever experienced before. He felt an undying need to make sure this teen was safe and happy. It was like he had an instant connection with him.

Harry found himself returning the hug.

"I'm so sorry," the smaller teen continued. "I took the potion, even though you told me not to. But it worked and I'm here and I can help you now."

Harry jolted back as he felt someone tear at his robes, pulling him away from the stranger. He was toppled before he could stop Severus from lowering his wand at the boy, right at his neck.

"You're not Draco Malfoy," Severus claimed. His black eyes roamed over the face before him, widening and then narrowing at the eyes staring back at him. "That's impossible." Whatever it was that caught his eye had him standing, bringing the young man with him by his hair and slamming him against the closest wall.

Harry jumped at the sound of the teen's cry of pain. It tore him to his heart.

"Severus," Albus started, moving up next to the potions master. "Surely you shouldn't be treating him like that. He's only young."

The boy's eyes darted to Albus and then back to the man threatening him. "Please. I'll explain everything." The hand in his hair tightened, causing him to stand on his toes and grimace. "I'm not a threat. I swear. I'm not a Death Eater and I'm certainly not here to hurt Harry Potter."

Severus slammed him again before letting him drop. "She had _one_ child. Who the hell are you?"

Confusion crossed the faces of everyone around them. "My name is Scorpius," the teen responded from the floor, not even bothering to try to stand. His body still shook weakly. "I'm from the future."

"You're a Malfoy?"

"Yes."

Severus turned his head away. "Impossible," he repeated. "She only had one child."

"And he's my papa," Scorpius claimed, which had Severus turning back towards him. The Slytherin grabbed him by the front of his robes, forcing him to stand as he shook him violently.

"There is no such thing as a female Malfoy, boy. What lies are you spinning?"

Albus clapped a hand on Severus' shoulder, telling him it was enough. "If you let him talk, we might get an answer, Severus."

Scorpius was dropped again. "Draco Malfoy is my dad..."

"This is bullshit," Severus argued. He stopped at Albus' sigh. He folded his arms over his chest and walked to the back of the room.

"I'm not allowed to say who my papa is, though. Otherwise, it mightn't happen."

The potions master let out a derogative snort but didn't say anything.

"I'm born five years from now..."

"No spell or potion can take anyone this far back," Remus instantly objected. "Nothing is that powerful."

"In my time, my dad created a potion strong enough to take me back twenty years," Scorpius explained. "It was patented two years before my birth, just in case it would be needed. I had to complete it in secrecy when we realised we had no chance at winning the war."

Albus crouched down next to him.

Harry nearly bristled with jealousy. His spot was supposed to be next to this Scorpius. The old man had stolen it.

"Twenty years is a long time, Mister Malfoy. I can't imagine how much has changed in your time compared to now."

Scorpius let out a shaky cough. "I'm not exactly a Mister Malfoy. Dad took my papa's name. It was hyphenated. And this is the first time I've seen you, Professor. You're dead in my time. You died long before I was born."

"That's impossible," Minerva demurred. "Surely the Death Eaters can't have improved that much."

"They stop trying to kill us. They capture instead," Scorpius told them. "I was the only one in the Resistance who hadn't been caught. Uncle Severus and Tonks managed to escape them a few times after being tortured, but everyone else died. First Professor Dumbledore, then Mister Moody, Minerva McGonagall...everyone in the Order will die. It starts a year from now when they realise they aren't strong enough to beat us in battle; they set up traps to capture us one by one. Professor Dumbledore is the first to go, but the only one to end his own life."

"I am captured?" Albus asked.

Scorpius nodded his head, but turned to Harry. His eyes returned to Albus though. "It happened because you don't want to reveal anything about the Order through torture. Voldemort linked it all to Harry Potter. He saw the whole thing mentally."

Harry raised an eyebrow. There weren't very many people who knew about the connection between the two.

It was also rare to find someone using Voldemort's name.

"You can't be a Malfoy," Harry muttered, looking at the Malfoy-look-a-like. "They're too chicken-shit to do anything against their Lord."

The blonde cringed as he laughed weakly. "Yeah, you used to say that all the time. I guess it's my papa who really stands out in me personality-wise."

"You can't have _her_ eyes if you're Draco's son," Severus hissed from his corner. "Surrogate parenthood doesn't involve the DNA of both fathers."

Scorpius eyed the older man. "That's correct in this time. In four years, my dad will create a potion that strips the DNA of the surrogate mother from the embryo she's carrying and replaces it with the DNA of the second father. Works with two mothers, too. He'd become incredibly famous for the creation if the selling of potions wasn't monitored by the Death Eaters. They've completely taken over in my time."

"Why hasn't anyone stopped them?" Harry asked, not even realising how stupid the idea was. He wanted the boy to talk to him.

"Everyone strong enough has been killed," Scorpius breathed. "Including you. That was when Uncle Severus and I decided to send me back."

"_I_ was killed?"

"Yes. Voldemort caught you somehow on the battlefield. He stood over you and stomped you to your death."

Harry swallowed thickly. "How long before that happens?"

"It was three months ago in my time. The moment it happened, I suggested to Uncle Severus that we send me to this time so I can warn you. I can even help with the fighting. I haven't had as much training as I would have liked, but I know a few things..."

"No."

It was so loudly objected that Minerva jumped a little in shock. Harry didn't even know where it came from, but he definitely did _not_ want this boy to get hurt. He wanted him to have nothing to do with a battle like that.

Severus rolled his eyes before he walked out of the room. Only Remus watched him.

"Harry?" Albus asked, eyeing the Gryffindor.

"I-I don't know what just happened," Harry admitted softly, looking only at Scorpius, "but he's not allowed to join in on this fight."

Albus raised an eyebrow before his attention returned to Scorpius. After a moment of observing him, his eyes turned back to Harry, who instantly recognised the knowing-glint in them.

"How do we know any of this is true?" Remus asked, showing the responsibility he was so well-known for.

"Uncle Severus said that you had to perform a DNA test on me," Scorpius said to the werewolf. "He knew that you'd have nothing against me when you found out who my papa is. No one else is allowed to know, though. But...I think Uncle Severus already does...he seems really angry about it."

Harry knelt on the other side of Scorpius. "I guess he doesn't approve of your papa then. He would only want the best for his arse-kissing little Malfoy."

Minerva verbally disapproved of the words that came from Harry's mouth

The younger teen smiled at that. "My dad doesn't have to kiss arse to get what he wants from Uncle Sev. He's damn good at making potions. Some say he's better than my Uncle Sev. Even to the day I left, people were praising his talents, even though it was ten years after his death."

Harry felt his mouth go dry. "Malfoy dies in ten years?"

Scorpius nodded his head once. "That's why I can't wait to see him again. He promised me he would read me the final chapter of our book. The night he was killed was supposed to be the last chapter."

"Oh. Maybe you can make him finish it when you see him."

The blonde smiled sadly. "I lost it a long time ago. I can't even remember what it was called. I get the feeling my papa hid it, though. He hid a lot of things that randomly made him burst out into tears..."

Harry noticed how Scorpius trailed off. "Your papa must have loved your dad very much," he commented, making Scorpius' smile turn happy.

"Yes, he did. He never moved on. My dad was the only one for my papa. He told me all the time."

Albus looked at Harry. "Perhaps Remus should perform that test?" he suggested, almost as if he was getting permission.

Harry nodded his head nonetheless and stood up, supporting Scorpius. The boy still shook slightly, but the effects were steadily wearing off.

He had taken a few observations of the boy. Scorpius hadn't once reached for his wand, wherever it was hidden, and he didn't look like he had even wanted to draw it out. Even as Severus had him against the wall, he was completely complacent. That left Harry to wonder what type of person the blonde teen was. He was either strongly against violence, or compliant to achieve his goals.

Neither were properties the Malfoy family appeared to appreciate.

-

Remus Lupin had been reinstated to the place of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at the start of Harry's seventh year. It was a welcome return supported by most.

Severus had opposed it as much as he possibly could, claiming that the last thing the students needed in a time of war was to be taught by a werewolf, especially when the werewolves were siding with the Dark Lord.

The war got harder and harder every day. The Death Eaters were on the move, threatening the lives of so many innocent Muggle and Muggleborn families.

The dead bodies were mounting. However, no important political figure or Order member had suffered just yet. Similarly, the Death Eaters were just as strong with every leader being safe and sound.

The Ministry had started to become desperate. They were searching as hard as they possibly could to find a way to cover the deaths. The first step was to remove Fudge from his position. He was replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour. The old lion-like man was just as useless in the eyes of the Order. Over a year, he had tried to both cover up what he could and had Moody train a bunch of new Aurors in secret. Those Aurors were killed within a week of their conscription, revealing the Ministry had a spy. It wasn't long before fingers were being pointed to some of the more infamous Ministry members, such as Lucius Malfoy.

It shocked Harry to his core that the blonde man hadn't been put into custody already. It was a fact everyone knew. He was a Death Eater and was destined to pass that title down to his son.

Harry cringed as he helped walk Scorpius to Remus' office. The boy he was holding up was the grandson of Lucius Malfoy and he was already attached to him somehow.

Draco Malfoy hadn't been that much of a burden as of late. Once they hit their seventh year, he seemed to die down. He quit the Quidditch team since Slytherin hadn't enough skill to fill a team (most had left because of Death Eater rumours or had been pulled out of school because of Death Eater parents wanting them to take their rightful place in the cause) and focused on his studies. Despite this, still had the appearance of being as 

arrogant and as discriminative as ever, even without one of his usual cronies. Crabbe had been one of the students who didn't return to complete their seventh year of education.

Instead, he spent most of his time in the library or out by the lake with Goyle and Theodore Nott, rather than being the school bully. He had apparently passed that crown to Pansy Parkinson, who took it up with delight.

As Harry thought back at it, he realised that although it was November already, he hadn't had much of an exchange with his usual nemesis. He had a few classes with the blonde, but they hadn't had a physical or magical fight with each other all term. Harry couldn't remember the last time he had even communicated with the Slytherin. It probably dated at least a month ago. The last fight would have been February, when Malfoy taunted Hermione and Ron over their Valentine's Day date in Hogsmeade. Harry had pointed out that Malfoy was completely dateless, only to have Blaise Zabini show up and prove him wrong.

That was when Harry discovered Malfoy's sexuality. It was also the reason why he wasn't shocked to find out that Scorpius was the product of Malfoy and his husband.

He looked down at the blonde teen who walked with a slight limp. He was the spitting image of Malfoy with one or two differences.

The first was that Malfoy was much shorter than this boy. Even thought there was a two year gap, Malfoy was still shorter. It pleased Harry to no end when he finally shot up past the Slytherin's height. He figured that out in their last punch-on. He had slammed him against a wall only to discover that he was capable of looking down at the teen. It seemed that although Lucius was tall, Malfoy had gotten absolutely none of his height.

The second difference was the sparkling green eyes that looked back at him. They were so unlike the cold grey glare belonging to his dad and his grandfather. Harry was almost glad the boy wasn't completely facially identical to Malfoy. It gave him a warmer appearance. It also meant that he could have a decent conversation with the boy without those eyes giving him hell.

There was something about Malfoy, Harry had realised somewhere along the years, that really bugged him. It was no secret, that was for sure, but there was something about him that stood out past the fact that he was destined to become a Death Eater. There was much more to it.

Harry had been questioning his sexuality for a while now. He had dated Ginny for a while before things fell out. No matter how much she tried, she wasn't what he wanted physically. And the more he looked at Malfoy, the more he realised how much more appealing the blonde was.

Harry's shudder startled Scorpius.

"Are you alright? Am I too heavy?" he asked quickly, staring up at him with those eyes.

The Gryffindor shook his head at the latter question. "I'm just thinking, that's all. How are you coping?"

"I'll be alright. I'll get to see Dad soon."

Just the thought of seeing Malfoy again had the hairs at the back of his neck standing up on end. That teen was the physical evidence that Harry was going insane. Only a person deserving to be in a psych-ward could possibly find Malfoy attractive at a time like this.

Now was the time for war; not to discover that you're actually gay and it was the enemy who proved it to you.

This time, Harry groaned. The more he thought about it, the worse it got. He just resolved to not think about him.

"So," he started off, helping Scorpius around a corner. "What happened to Remus?"

The professor in front of him nearly snorted at him.

"It's Professor Lupin while we're out in the castle like this," he chided lightly. Harry grinned and winked at Scorpius.

"Actually, he died when I was nine. I don't know who did it, but it was all relayed back to you," Scorpius answered, looking up at Harry. "It was the second time I've ever seen you so completely destroyed inside. You lost your spouse a few years before it."

"I marry?" Harry asked in complete shock. "That's impossible..."

"Nope. You marry someone you love dearly. You even had two children together." Scorpius looked back at Remus. "You're not married yet, are you?"

That time, Remus let out a sigh. "I'm never getting married, Mister Malfoy."

"Your death was the only time I've ever seen your husband break down. He's been around me all my life, but your death was the only thing that seemed to emotionally hurt him."

Remus stopped walking. "I'm not about to marry a man," he replied, turning back to the teens. "I'm currently in a relationship with a woman."

"Tonks, you mean?"

"Yes."

Scorpius waved his hand dismissively. "You're pretty much cheating on her already." That had the werewolf's cheeks darkening. "I know you're already in love with him..." He stopped himself by slapping a hand over his mouth.

Remus had gone from as red as Harry had ever seen him to as pale as the skin the Malfoys were so proud of.

"I-I marry _him_...?"

That gained Harry's attention. "You're in love with a man? What happened to Tonks?"

"I wasn't meant to say anything about those things." Scorpius' words were muffled by his hand. "I really didn't mean to say that..." He looked up at Harry with his eyes wide. "I'm so sorry."

"You're in love with a man?" Harry repeated, ignoring Scorpius. "When did this happen...? Are you already with him?"

Remus continued to stare at Scorpius, ignoring Harry. "I can't possibly marry him; he hates me..."

Scorpius uncovered his mouth but started to walk. "I'm not saying anymore. Uncle Sev will kill me. He made me promise not to say anything about the future if it could stop what's meant to happen. That's why my papa isn't allowed to find out that he's my papa, otherwise it mightn't happen. And no one's meant to know who they marry, either, so forget that I said anything."

"I can't believe that," Remus trailed off, turning around and following Scorpius, even though the blonde was looking around, trying to find his direction. As they both turned another corner, Harry could have sworn he saw a broad smile on the older man's lips.

Accepting that he was being ignored, Harry continued to follow, catching Scorpius just in time as he slipped down the closest wall.

"You're a bit of a handful, you know that?" Harry grumbled, helping to lift him back up.

"Yeah, sorry. We didn't know what side-effects the potion would have, but we had to use it anyway."

Remus helped out. "So...that means that he loves me, right?"

Scorpius groaned and tried to wiggle away from the werewolf. "I'm not telling you anymore than I already have. I wasn't meant to say that much to begin with"

Remus just smiled.

Harry sent him a mock glare. "You have to break up with Tonks, you know that, right?"

The glare was returned. "I'll get around to it."

Scorpius shook his head. "No! You have to continue on as if you don't know any of this. You don't break up with her because of him...she finds out and breaks up with you. You have to keep it going that way, otherwise it could turn out wrong."

Brown eyes rolled as Remus took in what the teen was saying.

"You're as bad as a child, you know that?" Scorpius nearly hissed out. "You weren't like this in my time."

"Maybe you were just too young." Harry offered. He paused as they arrived at Remus' rooms. The professor opened up his door with a series of charms and a key to finish it off.

"Or it could be that you're the son of a Malfoy," Remus suggested. "Last I checked, I wasn't on the best grounds with them."

The blonde teen frowned at that. "My grandfather was very wrong for everything he's ever done," he claimed. "The only thing he did right was sire my dad. His actions cause my papa to kill him months before I'm born. My grandmother followed him through a suicide. She couldn't take life without her husband."

"And your dad?"

"She hadn't spoken to him for years before that. It became public knowledge that my dad had changed sides for my papa. That's my job, though. I have to convince him sooner so he can help. Voldemort had him cooking up all sorts of horrible potions before he switched sides. One of them assists the Death Eaters to trap us. If they can't get their hands on that, then surely we'll be off to a better start."

"So it's only you, Snape and Tonks in your world?" Harry asked. Remus let out a small cough as if he was choking on air.

Scorpius grinned at that before he turned back to Harry. "Yeah, but they're both useless. They've both been tortured beyond helping. I'm the only one who can walk on some days, and I can barely cast a Patronus. I'm just as useless as they are in battle." He tugged on a pouch at his hip. "That's why I keep to dad's profession. I make all the potions you could ever imagine. Since Uncle Sev can't stand long enough to brew them, the reins were handed over to me a long time ago."

Harry guided Scorpius into a chair in Remus' office. "I can't imagine your papa would be too happy about you looking just like your dad and doing the same thing he did."

"He hated it," Scorpius admitted with a wide smile. "Absolutely hated it. There were some times I reminded him so much of Dad he just cried when he looked at me. That was a little strange, though."

Remus disappeared into a back room.

"Could have been worse...he could have hit on you or something," Harry suggested.

"He never tried that. But..."The door to the office opened and Severus stepped through. Scorpius continued with his story. "But Papa hit me once. It was horrible. He wouldn't talk to me for the longest of times and I thought it was because I reminded him too much of my dad. So I dyed my hair black for a change. He hit me so hard I got dizzy." Scorpius saw the way Severus' eyes narrowed into a glare at Harry, though Harry was also angry with the blonde's words. "He told me, though, that I was never to be ashamed of what I got from Dad. He made me change it back as soon as I possibly could."

Just then, Remus returned to the room holding a dagger and looking thoroughly puzzled. He paused, though, when he saw Severus.

"I was just about to send Harry to get you," he said, moving up towards his desk.

Severus pulled a piece of parchment from his robes. "Albus firecalled me and said you might need this. It's been soaked in the potion for five minutes. It should work right," he claimed before turning around and leaving.

It left Harry slightly confused.

"I thought I had some of this stuff in the back there, but it appears to be gone," Remus explained almost absently. "Looks as if Severus was a step ahead of me."

"You have to leave the room," Scorpius told Harry. "You're not allowed to find out who my papa is."

Harry looked at the dagger in Remus' hands. "What are you going to do with that?" he demanded to know.

The werewolf followed his gaze. "I need some of blood in order to perform the test."

"I've been through it before," Scorpius claimed. "He just needs a few drops, nothing big."

Harry gave the boy a sceptic look before he made his exit.

-

The headmaster couldn't stop grinning. "This is an interesting change in our journey," he told Minerva. "That teen is an intriguing creature. His parents-he's destined to be as every bit as fascinating as the pair."

"You know who his other father is?" she asked almost dryly.

"As does Severus. That boy clicks so much quicker when it concerns a certain woman."

"Severus isn't the little boy you regard him as..._surely he can't be_."

"Those eyes aren't on the face of every young man we meet."

Minerva slipped into a chair, holding a hand up to cover her eyes. "That isn't possible. Those two boys can't get along in a class, let alone as a married couple."

"It's incredibly interesting, isn't it?"

-

Scorpius jumped out of his dream when Remus started talking to him again. "Are you okay?" the werewolf asked, placing the dagger down on the desk before him.

The blonde nodded his head, looking down at the few droplets of blood spreading on the piece of parchment where they had landed.

Remus watched the blood mix in with the potion lacing the parchment. Before long, the crimson liquid began to move, flowing as if it was ink from a pen.

The first word it made was 'Scorpius'. That was followed by 'James'. The common name had Remus raising an eyebrow. The Malfoys weren't very famous for their commonness. 'Malfoy-' was next. Scorpius was blushing by this, and he didn't even know why. 'Potter'.

-

Harry returned to the Gryffindor dormitory. It was something past eleven, after all. The meeting took much longer than usual, and then the incident with Scorpius just built on the time he could have used studying. Or sleeping. The latter was much more likely, either way.

He knew he'd be attacked by Ron and Hermione, who'd want nothing more than to figure out what had been so interesting that he was kept there for so long. Harry considered not telling them about Scorpius. His want to keep him safe hit had at that point, screaming at him that the best way to protect him was to not let anyone know of his existence.

But, if Harry knew anything about his friends, they'd get it out of him eventually.

And he was right.

The moment the Fat Lady let him through, he was bombarded by a moving ball of frizzy hair. Hermione was in his face within seconds, demanding to know what had taken him so long and if he was alright.

"It's okay," Harry told her, trying to shush her. "Nothing bad happened, I suppose you could say. We just had something different happen in the meeting."

Ron eyed him suspiciously. "Such as?" he questioned, causing Harry's eyes to dart around the common room. They were the only three there.

"You are never going to believe this."

And so they all settled down for his explanation.

-

"This is impossible," Remus claimed, looking at the family tree drawn by Scorpius' blood. On the parchment were to names of Scorpius' parents, grandparents and great grandparents on all sides.

"I wish people would stop saying that," Scorpius groaned. "If it's written down there, clear as day, then it's right."

"Your papa can't possibly be Harry. Him and Draco Malfoy are sworn enemies-possibly more so than Harry and Voldemort. This is insane."

Scorpius smiled, fondly running his finger over the word 'Lily', which had appeared next to his own name. "My papa always told me about some rivalry between the two of them, but it's really good to hear it from someone else."

"And they were happy together?"

The smile disappeared. "Mostly. They had their fights, but all couples fight, right? There was only ever one that was overly bad. Other than that, they were close and loving."

"Malfoy's the next in line to get his arm tattooed."

"He never received it in my time. He might have worked for Voldemort for a little while, but he was never a Death Eater."

"This is really..."

"Uncle Sev said that you'd be the hardest to convince," Scorpius said. "He told me that you'd want to protect my papa with everything you had. But trust me, and the proof. I'm their child, and I want to protect them just as much as you and Uncle Sev do. I don't care if they end up together or not. Just as long as they're safe and don't have to go through that pain, I would have done what I came here for."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "If they don't end up together, then you'll never be born."

"I'm aware of that. I'm also aware of the suffering Papa went through when Daddy died. It was like he had lost more than his soul. It's not fair that he goes through all of that just because he fell in love."

Remus let out a sigh. "What are we going to do with you?"

Green eyes sparkled. "Can I see my dad?"

-

Ron's mouth couldn't have dropped any further.

"_Malfoy's_ kid?" he hissed, moving forward in his chair. "_Malfoy's kid_?!"

"Yes, Ron. The kid is a Malfoy."

"And Malfoy has him with another guy?"

"Yes."

"That's insane. I can't believe you're actually thinking any of this is true," Ron muttered, settling back in his seat. "I mean, how is it even possible for any of it to be true? Malfoy's a Death Eater and he's nowhere near good enough to make all of these potions. This is all a trick."

"The wards wouldn't have let him through, Ron," Hermione argued, fully believing the tale. "He'd have to be transported from another time in order to get past them."

"Then he's here to hurt Harry, Hermione! It isn't possible for a Malfoy to not want to kill him..."

"There's something about him," Harry claimed, efficiently halting the redhead's words. "He's different from the Malfoys of this time. When he hugged me, it was like...it was different from any other hug I've ever had. I've...it touched me right to somewhere inside me..."

That piqued Hermione's interest. "Maybe he has done something to you, Harry. That sounds a little too strange for it to be normal."

Harry shook his head vehemently. "No. He would never hurt me, Hermione. He's not a true Malfoy. His papa raised him. Scorpius is here to help. And I think we should trust him."

Ron stood in a fit of rage. "You can't be serious, Harry. He's a Malfoy, regardless to who raised him. For all we know, some other Slytherin's his _papa_. This Scorpius kid isn't to be trusted. He's clearly done something to you already."

Harry fell back against his chair. "You're acting as if he's some sort of threat. His papa never let him learn any real fighting skills..."

"At least that's what he's telling you. For all we know, he's just waiting to strike. He'll let you believe he's weak and then he'll get you when you're least expecting it."

"Scorpius isn't going to do anything like that, Ron."

"And how do you know that?"

Hermione had to suggest Ron lowered his voice at that. He was getting louder and louder with every sentence, and the last thing they really needed was to wake up the whole Gryffindor house over their squabbles.

"I know it. I'd trust him with my life."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You're a fool. I can't believe you'd willingly trust a Malfoy so quickly. They're the main followers of the enemy, or did you forget that? We may as well get the Dementors on him as soon as we possibly..."

Harry couldn't remember drawing his wand so quickly before, but he had it up against Ron's throat before he could finish his sentence.

Retaliating in her own record time, Hermione whipped out her wand and had it to Harry's chest.

"Harry, what's going on, mate?" Ron asked, his voice a little weak.

It took Harry a while, but within moments, he was mentally retracing his steps to figure out what was happening.

His hand shook as he realised. The wand dropped as he slipped back onto the couch, holding his head in his hands.

"I don't know what's going on, Ron. I'm so sorry," he apologised softly. "I-that's the second time I've stood up for him like that...I don't want him to be hurt, that's the closest thing I can get to understanding what's going on."

Hermione sat next to him, handing him his wand. "Did he have a chance to put a spell on you or anything?"

He shook his head, knowing that Scorpius hadn't even moved for his wand once. His eyes had sought out his every movement and he hadn't reached for it at all.

"And I highly doubt it was a potion." He looked at Hermione. "I honestly just want to protect him. He mentioned fighting in the war and that just tore me apart."

The young woman observed him closely. "Maybe you two were close in his time."

Ron immediately disagreed with that. "What could Harry possibly want with a Malfoy, no matter the year?"

"Scorpius doesn't seem that bad. Remus would have tested him by now to see who his papa is, and if he's the son of a reliable man, it should be alright. Malfoy changed sides in his time. It could just be a matter of time..."

"Malfoy's a rotten ferret and you know it."

"He's been alright this year, actually," Harry admitted, almost flinching at the look Ron gave him. Even Hermione raised her eyebrows at that. "I mean, he hasn't been on our backs all term. It's like he's gone into seclusion."

"I've noticed that as well, but I wouldn't say he's doing that because he's had a change of heart, Harry. I think you're hoping a little too much. Maybe things are different in different times..."

"Was it like that with the Time Turners?"

That had Hermione pausing. "Well, no..."

"Then it shouldn't happen in this instance."

Hermione ran a hand through her bushy hair and let out a loud sigh. "There's a lot more time involved in this. And there are so many theories around time travel, Harry. When you think about it, he's risking his own existence in this time to try to restore good to his own. But that mightn't even work. Rather than alternate timelines, some people believe there are alternate realities..."

Ron groaned, showing that he couldn't keep up with her.

"You're hurting my head, Hermione. Simply...?"

The brunette rolled her eyes, but simplified for him. "Basically, the things this Scorpius does here mightn't change what's happening when he gets back to his own time. What happened there mightn't even happen here. I'm just saying that we can't expect too much of his predictions."

Standing, Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. There's something about him that seems honest to me. I don't think he'd lie to me, especially when it comes up to Voldemort. I trust him."

"Then don't come running to us when he sets you up in a trap. He's a Malfoy," Ron continued, obviously having a problem with the family. "I don't care who raised him; any Malfoy is a bad person in my books."

"And I understand why you say that, but you haven't met him yet."

"I don't have to meet him. Look at the ones before him. Have you forgotten what Lucius Malfoy did to Ginny? And everything else Malfoy's done to us?"

"Last I checked, Ron, I'm not my father, and you're not yours." With a yawn, he turned. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

-

Remus walked Scorpius back up to Albus' office, listening to him talk about the future.

"My papa didn't want me being in the spotlight of the wizarding world, so he sent me to a Muggle school. I hated it there, but he wouldn't have it any other way. I don't think Voldemort even knew that I was alive. He knew about my sister, though. He killed her before she was born. Papa told me that our mother was forced into giving birth, even though she was only seven months along. She had been captured with Dad..."

"This was all when you were five?"

Scorpius nodded his head. "My papa saw the whole thing, too. He couldn't stop it. He had to witness his husband and his baby daughter being murdered. I could hear him screaming that night. Uncle Sev had to use a potion to put me to sleep; they wouldn't tell me what was happening. I had to find out in the morning."

Remus watched how Scorpius' facial expression suddenly lit up.

"But, I get to see my dad again soon. And I'm going to stop my papa's suffering at all costs. Even if it means that they were never together."

"This would explain why Harry's so protective of you already. He must know somehow."

"I wouldn't put it past him; he is pretty awesome, you know?"

Remus couldn't stop the smile on his face. This boy really admired Harry for being his father.

"So you've never been to Hogwarts before?" Remus asked, changing the subject.

"I've been to a few rooms. And that was only because Uncle Sev decided it would be safer for us to stay at Hogwarts for the past few months rather than stay at home. I've never attended a single class before, though. By the time Uncle Sev and I arrived here, it was already abandoned. And...wait...will I be able to attend here?"

He stopped walking and turned to Remus. The werewolf froze at the face looking up at him. The beauty of a Malfoy mixed in with the innocence of Lily's eyes. He took in a deep breath before he looked away. There was something completely illegal with that look and it should never be used against anyone.

"I'm guessing you learnt that from your papa."

"Learnt what, Uncle Moony?"

Remus just slung his arm over Scorpius' shoulders and steered over into the proper corridor.

-

The werewolf nearly cringed as he saw the twinkle in Albus' eyes as he and Scorpius returned to his office.

"So, Mister Malfoy, what are we going to do with you?" Albus asked, offering a lemon drop to the teen. He declined but accepted the suggested chair. Remus sat down also, sitting next to Severus, who was also present.

Scorpius almost felt like shuddering. There was something about the older man that bothered him. "I don't know. I just want to help people out. I want to make sure my parents aren't hurt anymore."

"And where do you suppose you'll be staying? Rather, how do you intend on returning?"

The question had him looking back at Severus briefly. "We kinda planned on winging it, actually."

The potions master let out a groan. That was not a good sign. 'Winging it' wasn't an option when dealing with time and he couldn't believe he would let a child go through with something so dangerous. "And how do you plan to do that?" he questioned.

"Well, with all the theories out there, we figured I have a few options. Our best bet, though, was to pretty much reverse the potion. I have with me something we conjured about five minutes before I drank the potion, which can be added as a guide to take me to where I want to go. We had to do that with the original potion; only it was using something created at the point of my arrival. If that doesn't work, then I guess I'll have to wait it out. Surely I can't be in the same timeline with myself."

Albus and Severus exchanged similar looks between each other, silently asking for the other's opinion.

"If the original potion got you this far, it should work to return you," Severus theorised.

"I suppose. I mean, you are one of the greatest potion masters of all time; who am I to argue? The fact that this potion has been worked on by two of the best really gives me hope that it'll work in the end."

Albus shifted in his seat. "So, where are you planning on staying?"

A red tinged coloured Scorpius' cheeks. "We didn't plan that far ahead. We thought we'd be happy just getting the message across."

"Ah." The blue eyes twinkled at Severus. "Since you're the closest professor to the Slytherin dorms, perhaps he can stay in one of your guest wings in the dungeons," he suggested, causing Scorpius to sit up quickly.

"I'll be in the same area as Dad?" he asked hopefully.

"Indeed."

The blonde turned to Severus, giving him the same look he had given Remus not too long ago.

The look on Severus' face had Remus laughing. "He certainly learnt that off his papa. I can't imagine Draco Malfoy looking up at anyone with such big eyes."

Severus' lips thinned into an unhappy frown. "Yes, it would seem so. Never in my years as Draco's godfather have I seen such an expression." His eyes met with Remus', despite Scorpius. "I'm assuming his papa happens to be your golden child?"

A questioning glance was sent Scorpius' way, asking for permission. He was too busy trying to facially convince Severus to notice.

"Fine then, boy. You can stay there. Give Lupin his answer."

Scorpius ignored the second part of his statement as he rushed out of his chair, leaping at Severus' torso. The tall man was thankful for his seating, but still felt the crushing blow of a young man's body against his as it landed against him. Scorpius embraced him tightly until he felt his body being lifted into the air without any hands being used.

Albus gently lowered him back into his chair and put his wand aside again. "Mister Malfoy, if you'd be so kind as to explain your parentage...?"

"Oh! Umm, Uncle Sev told me to give him a letter explaining things. There's also one for you, Professor Dumbledore."

With that, he began to rummage through the satchel at his hip, pulling out two letters enclosed in envelopes. He handed them to their respectful owners before giving Remus an apologetic smile. "Sorry, we didn't know what to give you."

He received a small smile while the other two read their letters. "That doesn't matter. You've already given me a lot to think about."

That had the youngest present turning red again. "I really didn't mean to tell you that. You should forget all about it. I'm not allowed to give out that kind of information. I guess I should be glad that Papa didn't catch on."

Remus laughed openly. "I don't think your papa would ever catch on to that one."

Scorpius turned a wary eye to Albus just as he felt the old professor looking up at him. The moment their eyes made contact, though, Albus looked back at the piece of parchment before him.

"I don't know what's written in them. Uncle Sev did all the writing," Scorpius admitted.

Albus put down the letter. "Well, this confirms my thoughts of who your papa could possibly be."

Severus' letter was folded back up and tucked away into his robes. "Yes indeed."

"It gave me a shock to see it written through the spell. But then again, look at his eyes," Remus suggested, looking at Severus. The way he was looking back at him almost had him blush. "Wha-what was written in your letter?"

Green eyes narrowed as Scorpius' face turned into a pout. "I'm not allowed to say certain things about the future...don't tell me your older self actually wrote what's going to happen in a letter to you."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "It was written that I need to rethink certain alliances and that your father is, indeed, Potter."

Looking at the childish face, Albus' own expression changed. "You weren't brought up as a wizard, were you?" he asked, eyeing the teen.

Scorpius shook his head. "No. Papa didn't want me to draw any attention to myself. I look too much like a Malfoy to go unnoticed in the streets. I've never been to Diagon Alley in all honesty. I attended a Muggle school, shopped in London, but with a disguise and never once met the Order until I was fourteen. I don't know many spells since the Death Eaters would use Ministry technology to track underage wizardry, so I'm only really good for potions. I've never even flown a broom before."

"Your papa protected you the best he could," Remus observed. Scorpius groaned at that, folding his arms over his chest.

"Rose keeps telling me I'm so immature. She doesn't get it; I haven't had a chance to develop any maturity. I've always had Papa or Uncle Sev there to hold my hand, no matter what I went through. Had I gone to Hogwarts, I would have learnt what life away from protection was like, but no, my papa insisted I go to a Muggle school instead. That's why I'm so childish and obsessed with getting my way." There was obvious resentment in his voice. "But, now that I'm here, I'm hoping to learn some new things to help my parents out."

A small smile crept over Remus' face again. "I can't believe you're the son of those two," he admitted again.

"_You_ can't believe it?" Severus stressed, propping his elbow up on the arm of the chair and resting his brow on his palm. "I can't even begin to imagine what this would do to Lucius and Narcissa. A Malfoy with a Potter? It's unheard of and will send either, if not both, of them into cardiac arrest."

Scorpius turned to Severus again. "Will I get to meet them?"

"No," Remus answered for the Slytherin. "It's much too dangerous. They'll panic when they see someone looking so alike their own son."

"I could explain that I'm their grandchild."

"That wouldn't work," Albus objected. "The Malfoys are a proud family; they'd never look at you and see grandchild. They'd see a squib and that'd warrant your death."

That caused the teen to pale considerably. "They'd kill me because I didn't attend Hogwarts?"

"They'd kill you because your lack of magical knowledge would be an embarrassment to them," Severus told him. "Draco has received that threat many times from Lucius. It's obvious that he'll never go through with it unless Draco embarrassed him in front of the Dark Lord, but he still gets those threats whenever his grades fall."

Scorpius looked down at his hands. "That's the kind of man my grandfather is?" he asked weakly.

"Yes."

"Has he...has he killed before?"

Severus raised his head to look at the boy, not sure if he was being completely serious or not. "There are certain tasks you need to perform before becoming a Death Eater, boy. Murder is one of them."

"So you've killed as well?"

Remus clasped a hand on Scorpius' shoulder. "How could you not have known this?"

"My papa refused to talk about anything relating to my dad. He didn't tell me that my grandfather was such a bad guy, and he must have conveniently forgotten to tell me that sort of stuff about Death Eaters."

"Did he _conveniently forget_ a lot of things?"

Scorpius hesitated slightly before he nodded his head once. "Papa liked to keep me protected from _everything_. I guess it's alright, seeing as he only wanted the best for me. And it must have been hard for him to watch as his husband and his daughter were killed because of him. He just didn't want me to be taken away from him as well." Out of nowhere, Scorpius let out a huge yawn, suddenly feeling how late it was. "I guess time travel can take its toll on the body."

"Or it could be that it's quarter to one in the morning," Remus suggested kindly.

"I'll have the house elves prepare the bed for you," Albus told him before turning to Severus. "Perhaps you should lead him to his new rooms?"

Severus agreed with a nod of his head and stood. "Come on, demon child."

Scorpius pouted at the name, but followed the potion master's steps.

"I'll also tell the house elves to bring you breakfast tomorrow. Then, we'll see about you approaching your dad."

The blonde smiled at that and waved at the two remaining in the room as Severus closed the door behind them. As they started to walk off, Scorpius turned his head up to look at Severus' face.

"What did that letter actually say?" he asked in a way that had Severus raising an eyebrow.

"What is with you?" Severus retorted. "Are you completely naive or cunning?"

Scorpius added a slight skip to his step. "I was never Sorted, but I highly doubt I own many Hufflepuff qualities."

He received a 'hn' for that and continued walking.

-

**End of the first chapter...Wow, it's kinda long...ooopsy...**

**Hope you all enjoyed it. **

**Chapters will be updated every Friday from now on without fail...I hopes...**


	2. Chapter Two: Bast

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

_**Welcome back to another chapter.**_

_**ChibiOhkami: Scorp is fifteen. He's born five years after this story takes place. Also, I have twenty-one chapters planned. I generally keep to my plan...**_

_**Saki-18: Thank you...! And no, they're not going to be as bad as they were in MBUS. I can't possibly do that again. It was great to see so much emotion from everyone, but damn it was hard...**_

**-**

**Chapter Two: Bast, Egyptian Goddess of Fertility**

-

_I can remember walking in on Uncle Sev sitting at the kitchen table. He didn't look up at me. Aunt Hermione and Grandma Molly were there also. Grandma Molly hugged me as tight as she ever had._

_When I looked at Uncle Sev, a chill went down my spine._

"_Where's Papa?" I had asked. _

_And this is when it starts to get fuzzy_

_I remember asking is over and over again. No one would tell me. I collapsed somewhere along the way. When I woke, Uncle Sev explained what had happened. He had seen it all._

_Papa had been killed. The final chance at a peaceful life had been stomped to death and then used as snake-food. _

_However, to me, my papa, the only blood family I had left, was gone._

-

Harry loved Saturdays. They were always perfect for sleeping in. Especially after a Friday night meeting when he had a lot on his mind to think about.

Even though they had discussed several disturbing things about the Death Eaters and their master, he couldn't get his thoughts off the boy who interrupted their meeting. Scorpius Malfoy-whoever was more than enough to rattle his brain. And it wasn't so much because he was an enigma in who he was, but how he affected Harry so much.

The conditions were almost Voldemort-like. Sure, it wasn't the pain he felt when Voldemort touched him, but the mere fact that it got a reaction scared him a little.

He lay back in bed, one hand under his head, as he stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't as interesting looking up at it without his glasses on, he realised three minutes into his endeavour. Without his glasses, the cracks and patterns bled into each other, providing him with a blurry mass of white paint with a few dots here and there. It wasn't as appealing as he had first thought.

Not only was Scorpius capable of such fascinating sensations, but he was also the son of Malfoy and some unknown man. That also toyed with Harry's interests. It toyed with them _a lot_.

He shook his head with frustration, trying to convince himself that the heat in his cheeks was from him getting angry with himself.

Sure. There was a chance he was gay. There was a _huge_ chance, in fact, and yes, Malfoy's body proved that. But it wasn't Harry's fault that Malfoy had that absolutely gorgeous body and that neck that he would just love to nibble on...

"Oh crap," Harry breathed, turning to his side. "Physical attraction, nothing more."

And that was true. It wasn't as if he had started to fall for the blonde's personality or anything.

"I'd rather screw the giant squid."

He had already cast a soundless barrier around his bed, which was surrounded by his usual curtains. None of the other boys could hear or see him talk to himself, for which he was thankful for. The last thing he needed was another bout of rumours depicting his insanity to take over his life.

"They're probably true," he reasoned with himself. "What kind of sane teen boy talks to himself about not appreciating the most amazing body he's ever seen." He rolled his eyes at that. "Not that you've actually seen his _body_...just what it looks like...do _not_ think in that direction, Harry Potter."

He took deep breaths to calm himself and began to think about less appealing thoughts.

The Death Eaters will begin to capture Order members soon, according to Scorpius' words. Yes, that was a good place to start. Death and torture.

It wasn't very long though before he started to think about his rival again, though. On Monday, they had potions together and more than once that year, he had already been forced into a partnership with the blonde.

"I need some serious help," he concluded finally. "A girlfriend..." Harry stopped himself. "That's a useless thought, closet case."

Another deep breath led to a heavy sigh.

And that seemed to awaken the beast that was the belly of a young man.

"Breakfast is always positive."

And with that, he rolled out of bed.

-

Ron was the last one to join them at the breakfast table and instantly set his mind on next week's Quidditch game. It was the second match of the year, being Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. Ron had been made captain, much to everyone's surprise, rather than Harry.

The Gryffindor House had expressed their displeasure over the choice. As it turned out, however, the decision to make Harry the captain had been overruled by Albus. While Minerva had initially chosen the Seeker, Albus had decided that Harry had far too much on his plate that year and needed the time to work on his fighting skills.

Hermione glanced at Harry, who obviously wasn't paying much attention to Ron's words about the game. The rest of the team, however, was showing interest in his plans.

"What's wrong?" she asked him softly, hoping not to gain the attention of those around them.

"I'm worried about Scorpius," Harry admitted just as quietly. "Who knows where he stayed last night?"

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully now. "Maybe he's been taken to Malfoy already."

Harry let out a sigh and dug into his breakfast. He wasn't sure why, but that nearly disappointed him. Sure, he knew the kid really wanted to see his dad again, but if he was there with Malfoy, that meant that Scorpius wouldn't spend time with him at all.

"Maybe, but is that the best idea? I mean, this kid idolises the dad he never knew...in this time, Malfoy's still a little prick. What if he's completely different from the Malfoy Scorpius remembers?"

"He was five, Harry; he's not going to remember much about Malfoy."

Rather than taking another bite of his food, he played around with it with his fork. "I don't know what he's done to me to make me think about his safety so much. What if the Malfoy of this time is really a Death Eater? Maybe that's why he's been off our radar for so long. He could hurt the kid."

The moment the words left his mouth, he raised his eyes to search for the blonde father. Slytherin was clear of that obvious patch of hair. He had noticed over time that Malfoy had shown up for breakfast less and less.

"It's not that big of a surprise that he's not here," Hermione muttered.

"All throughout last week, I couldn't help but notice how skinny he was getting."

An eyebrow rose at his sentence. "And just how much attention are you paying him, Harry?"

"He was my partner in potions. That's all."

Hermione shrugged her shoulders before Ron nudged Harry, trying to get him into the conversation.

"What do you think of Hensing as Seeker? Bold move this year, eh?" Ron asked Harry. "He wasn't very fast as a Chaser, but I guess they have to do what they can. You should beat him easily."

The others on the team agreed.

"He was pathetic against Malfoy," Ginny added, having been placed as a Chaser. "Couldn't keep up with his Nimbus to save his life."

Harry nodded his head, agreeing. But that had him thinking of Malfoy's performance. He had started to get slower on the field. The blonde wasn't as quick to see the Snitch in the last few games. What confused him even more was how Malfoy was still flying the Nimbus 2001. The once highly sought-after Silver Arrows had returned to producing Quidditch broomsticks and had released a new line only a few months ago. The 'Straight Shot' was just as fast as Harry's Firebolt, and was nominated to be Malfoy's broomstick for his last year at Hogwarts.

It wasn't long before Severus arrived at the Gryffindor table, looking down at Harry.

"That..._child_ has requested you take him to his parent," he claimed, noticing how Harry's eyes lit up instantly. He rolled his own eyes before walking off.

Harry nearly jumped as he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Before he could react, though, Scorpius' soft voice calmed him.

"You gave me your Invisibility Cloak in my time. Let's go and see my dad. Uncle Sev said he was down in the dungeons working on a project."

That got Harry interested.

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" Harry whispered in response.

"Professor Dumbledore organised it with the house elves."

Harry turned to Hermione. "I have to go. I'll explain later," he muttered before he stood. There was a loud complaint from Ron when he realised that Harry wouldn't be there to see the Quidditch plan he was plotting out with the salt, pepper and Neville's goblet of pumpkin juice. "Sorry, mate, but something came up. Snape wants me to run an errand for him."

The Gryffindor Quidditch team vocally objected to that reasoning, but Harry left the table anyway.

He could hear Scorpius' shoes as they walked along beside him.

"Where'd you sleep last night?" Harry asked, glancing around the bare hall.

"Apparently the professors are allocated spare rooms in case they have spouses or young children or visitors. I stayed in one of Uncle Sev's spare rooms."

Harry nodded his head. "So you'd know you're way around this area?"

"Not a clue," Scorpius laughed.

Harry found he liked hearing the boy laugh. "So did Snape tell you where your dad is?" He paused slightly. "You have no idea how weird that is. I mean, he's my age. It's crazy to think of him as a father."

"I can't wait to see him again. I have a photo of him, but that's nowhere near good enough. I'll see him and talk to him and hug him...it'll be so good to be with him again." Harry couldn't hold back his laugh as Scorpius ran into him as he turned a corner. "Sorry...I'm just really excited about seeing him."

"I guessed as much."

They fell into silence as they passed a large group of first year Hufflepuffs. Even though they were well into the new term, the first years still stopped and pointed when they saw Harry Potter. The two could hear the gossiping giggles well after they started their descent of the stairs.

"That must be annoying," Scorpius observed.

"You have no idea."

Slytherins passed them this time as they continued into the depths of the castle.

Harry had never really paid much attention to the architecture of the dungeons. He more or less dreaded his time there and thought of ways to get away from it, rather than observe it. What he found was interesting.

The main halls were made of old stone but were covered with some of the most beautiful tapestries Harry had ever seen. He slowed down to further his observations. Between each tapestry was a lit torch creating enough light for the images to be seen. And underneath those torches were full suits of armour, ranging between looking ominous and looking chivalrous. Most were marred with war scars and scratches.

A loud bang reminded Harry of Scorpius' presence and he turned around just in time to see Scorpius, from his position on the floor, cover himself back up with the Cloak. Lying across his legs was one of the suits.

"I didn't mean it," Scorpius muttered as he felt Harry lift the suit up magically.

"You klutz," Harry laughed lightly and continued walking, happy to hear that Scorpius was up on his feet again. He could, surprisingly, imagine the boy sticking his tongue out at him for that. "Almost there."

He turned another corner only to find himself crashing into a taller body. While Harry had to find his footing, the other didn't seem effected.

"What are you doing all the way down here, Potter?" came Theodore Nott's voice from somewhere above Harry.

The tall Slytherin was in the same year as Harry and was one most expected to join Voldemort's side at the drop of a hat.

"None of your business, Nott," Harry hissed, stepping around the other teen. He didn't get too far. A hand tightened around Harry's upper arm, shoving him against the closest wall.

"Lions aren't appreciated this deep in the dungeons, you know?"

Nott paused before he looked down at his stomach. Harry had his wand jabbing into his abdomen.

"I'm running an errand. Do you have a problem with that?"

Like all Slytherins, Nott was smart enough to know that when Harry Potter had his wand against you, you agreed to whatever the hell he said. The hand loosened and Nott stepped back, raising his hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"No harm caused," he shrugged, heading out towards the open corridor, though not turning his back on the Gryffindor. "Just hurry up with your little 'errand'. I don't know how many Slytherins you could take on your own, and I'm not necessarily going to keep my mouth shut among my friends about this."

Harry scoffed. "Of course you're a much bigger man when you have your reinforcements. Tell them what you want; I'm not willingly here, nor am I staying for much longer."

And with that, Nott was around the corner and gone from Harry's sight. The brunette let out a heavy sigh before he pocketed his wand again. Another hand came out to grasp him, but this time he knew it was Scorpius.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Scorpius asked with a worried tone.

"Nott is nothing I can't handle," Harry admitted. "His bark is definitely worse than his bite."

"I hope so."

"Come on."

Before long, they started to approach the classrooms. Sticking his head into each door, Harry motioned for Scorpius to join him when he finally spotted the blonde thorn in his side.

He felt Scorpius' hand wrap around his arm again.

"I can't do this," Scorpius whispered to Harry, who stepped back away from the door. "It's my dad...I haven't seen him in years...what if he's different...? Or maybe I'll say that wrong thing and he'll hate me..."

"I thought you wanted to see him."

"I do. I really, really do. It's just...I've been waiting years for this..."

Harry smirked. "I highly doubt Malfoy will disappoint you."

The trembling hand slipped off his arm. Harry stepped into the room, ushering Scorpius with him.

The moment the door closed behind Harry, Malfoy spoke, even though he was facing the other way.

"I told you not to bother me today, Pansy. I have a lot of work to do."

"Not Parkinson," Harry replied bluntly.

He seemed surprised that a male voice answered him. So surprised, even, that he turned to face the intruding Gryffindor.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Malfoy demanded to know. Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Malfoy had reached for his wand.

"Don't even bother with that," Harry sighed with exaggeration, running a hand through his hair. "Snape sent me here with a...message."

Malfoy replaced his wand on the table beside him before he returned to his potion. His head shot up to his right, however, as he heard something. Not being able to see anything, he focused on the book before him.

"What message, Potter?"

"A rather interesting one." Harry stepped around the table Malfoy was working on to face him. "I've discovered something rather amazing."

The fine chopping motions Malfoy had started abruptly stopped. "Surely you're not falling for those marriage rumours; I've already hexed Blaise with an impotency spell for that."

Harry nearly stumbled. "You did _what_?"

Malfoy raised a pale eyebrow. "And since when do I answer your questions, Potter? Get on with this bloody message of yours and piss off."

"You know, I can't imagine even Snape would appreciate that hex..."

"It's only temporary. _The message_, Potter. I have a lot of work to do."

Whatever he was chopping (it created a disgusting hue of yellow) was gently placed into the cauldron, making Harry raise his own eyebrow. Never before did he think that a Malfoy would allow such filth to touch them. A phial of something red was picked out of the ingredients lining the table to his left.

"I found out recently about your son," Harry claimed, and for the first time in his life, he made Malfoy laugh genuinely.

The way he smiled had Harry blushing. It was an amazing sight, one he instantly engraved into his memory. That, of course, was followed by rather loud and crude mental bashing.

"Me? A father? Not likely, Potter. I don't screw women. Never have, never will. My body just doesn't work that way."

Hearing it from him had Harry's stomach tumbling, even though he knew about it for a while.

"I've met the kid, actually," Harry continued, thankful he was lucky to find words. "He's right here with us."

"So all those insanity rumours all those years ago were actually true?" Malfoy asked before he raised the phial up to the cauldron. He focused on tipping the red liquid in, only to watch as the glass was ripped from his hand.

"Are you trying to kill us?" a voice hissed at him before Scorpius revealed himself from under the Invisibility Cloak. Instantly recognising the likeness between the two, Malfoy grabbed for his wand again, only to have it removed from his hand by Harry.

"Potter...? What the...?" Scorpius' words drowned Malfoy's questions.

"Boggart blood is the single most volatile ingredient known to potion brewers worldwide after it's been exposed to laughter. Adding it in to anything other than pure water or the distilling potion would cause an explosion half the size of Hiroshima!" the blonde snapped, holding the phial of Boggart blood in his right hand as he searched through the pouch he carried with him.

"Potter?" Malfoy tried again, looking at the Gryffindor.

"Malfoy, meet your son, Scorpius."

It was the only time Harry could remember Malfoy looking so gobsmacked. That at least settled the butterflies.

"That's still physically impossible; he's too old, and I've never been with a woman before."

Harry smirked, watching as Malfoy's eyes raked the boy from head to toe and back. "Well, he certainly looks a hell of a lot like you. And Professor Lupin performed a DNA test on him last night."

Scorpius lifted a bottle from his bag. "Boggart blood distilling potion," he claimed with a small grin. "I knew I had some with me."

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow. "Do you always carry random potions with you...?"

"It's not exactly random. I wasn't joking when I said half the size of Hiroshima. You can never have too many anti-exploding-of-the-volatile-ingredient-potions on hand." And with that, he started to mix the two liquids together with a slight flick of his wrist to stir the concoction.

Harry looked up at Malfoy again; whose grey eyes were still examining the child. "This is impossible," he repeated.

"He's from the future," Harry finally explained. "He's born five years from now."

"That's..."

"Impossible...yeah, we get it."

For the first time since Scorpius made his appearance, Malfoy's eyes hardened at Harry.

"Holy shit," Scorpius finally gasped. "You're my dad..."

Harry nodded his head at the taller blonde. "Yeah, and you're building up one of the worst first impressions I've ever seen in my life, mate. First you accuse him of trying to blow us up and then you swear in front of him."

Scorpius felt his face burn before he took a step towards his dad. "I'm so sorry," he muttered before he looked at Malfoy shyly. "It really is you."

Malfoy put out a hand to stop Scorpius where he was. "Stay," he ordered as he grabbed Harry by the wrist and dragged him towards the door. "What the _hell_ is going on here?"

Harry rolled his eyes, pointing at Scorpius briefly. "He showed up out of thin air in Dumbledore's office last night, claiming that he was your kid from the future. He said everyone died, including you and me, and that Voldemort was going to win the war in twenty years."

"That's a huge gap in time, Potter. This has to be a trick." Malfoy turned his head towards Scorpius to see him venture toward them. "I said stay," he hissed out, causing Scorpius to take a step back. His green eyes quickly dodged to Harry's.

"Look, Malfoy, Lupin would have told us if he wasn't your child. He did the test on him and everything. You gotta admit he looks identical to you, except for his height and his eyes. And it's not that impossible to think that someone could create a better time travelling potion in the future, is it?"

"Okay, that's doable," Malfoy agreed with little thought. "But I'm never reproducing..."

"You would with another guy, wouldn't you?"

"You see, Potter, there's this slight problem with the male anatomy that doesn't allow for a man to fall pregnant. It's called not having a womb. It's not all that technical, but it's a problem most gay couples face daily."

Harry groaned at Malfoy's sarcasm. He really didn't need that. "Imagine this, Malfoy. Things are in the future. There are endless possibilities."

"Are you trying to tell me that I conceive a child?"

And with that, Harry turned beet red. "I really didn't need to know what position you are."

Malfoy turned his eyes back to Scorpius, ignoring Harry's comment. "Then again, there could always be a surrogate mother..."

"Smart boy," Harry congratulated him, patting him on the back. He quickly withdrew his hand at Malfoy's glare. "Look, I'm only here as the messenger. I wouldn't be here willingly."

Malfoy's face lost what little colour it had. "You're going to leave me here alone with _him_?"

"He's your kid. Deal with it."

"Potter...!"

"Dad?"

Harry could have almost laughed at the way Malfoy froze at that single word.

But then again, it unsettled his stomach, too. And for some strange reason, he felt like Malfoy really _could_ do with some help with the boy. At least, that's what his brain tried to reason. He really didn't want to part with either.

For that thought alone, Harry nearly turned on his heel at that instant to leave the room.

"Dad?" Scorpius tried again. Harry watched as Malfoy acknowledged him. At the same time, he beat down whatever monster it was that wanted to kill Malfoy had he turned down his son.

_His_.

That brought along a mental shake of his head.

_Malfoy's_ son. Not _his_. Definitely not his own. Malfoy. Not Potter.

Harry was under the sudden impression that he didn't need a girlfriend. No, he needed an unlimited pint of something three times stronger than the strongest firewhiskey Madam Rosmerta had on her shelves.

"W-what?" Malfoy asked, completely unsettled by the name used.

"Well, you see, you died when I was only five, and now I'm fifteen, and I was wondering, but you probably won't agree to this because it'd be a little weird..."

"_What_?"

It was an exasperated sigh so perfectly suited for a parent wanting his child to get to the point. That definitely killed the monster in Harry.

"Can I hug you please?"

The question was so completely out of the blue that both Harry and Malfoy paused.

"What?" Malfoy asked for the third time.

"Can I hug you please?" Scorpius repeated, a shade darker than what he was when he realised he had sworn in front of his dad.

Noticing Malfoy's inner turmoil, Harry stepped over to Scorpius. With a simple thwack to the back of the boy's head, he shoved him towards the shorter blonde.

"He's your dad; you shouldn't have to ask for permission," Harry claimed.

With a shy smile to Harry, Scorpius closed the distance between him and his parent, wrapping his arms around the Slytherin's torso and holding him tightly.

Harry felt his own chest contract as he saw Malfoy's arms envelope Scorpius' shoulders.

He knew his heart tore in two the moment he heard Scorpius choke back a sob. The poor kid was crying. He started muttering utter nonsense, but Malfoy held him close anyway.

Scorpius abruptly pulled away, distancing himself from his dad so he could look him in the eye. "You have to stop giving your new potions to my grandfather. You _have_ to. I know he'll be angry, but you know they go straight to Voldemort..."

His words stopped as Malfoy's grey eyes focused on Harry.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that for Scorpius' sake, Malfoy," Harry claimed.

Malfoy nodded his head in understanding before he pulled Scorpius in to his chest again. Words were whispered into the taller Malfoy's ear.

"My grandfather would never kill you!" Scorpius hissed, breaking all contact from Malfoy. "No parent could do that..."

"Lucius Malfoy is a different kind of parent, Scorp. I do what..." He paused as Scorpius' eyes glistened with new tears. "What's wrong?"

"Scorp?" Scorpius repeated the nickname. "You called me Scorp...Papa refused to call me that once you died...he said you were the only one who was allowed to call me that."

Malfoy ran a hand through Scorpius' hair before he froze again. "Papa? You have a papa along with me?"

Scorpius nodded his head. "You were on the right track with the surrogate mother thing. You invented a potion that strips the DNA of the surrogate mother from the baby and replaces it with the second father. I'm one hundred percent you and Papa."

"And who is he?" Malfoy asked hopefully.

It caused a smile to appear on Harry's face.

"I'm not allowed to tell you. Uncle Sev would completely kick my butt if I did. He said that I wasn't allowed to let anyone know who they marry since it mightn't happen if they know."

"He refuses to tell me who I end up marrying as well," Harry added lightly. "But he managed to reveal to Lupin who his husband turns out to be."

Malfoy's jaw nearly dropped. Had he been from any other family, it might have. "Lupin's gay?" The thought was interrupted by the potion boiling over. Malfoy swore out loud, rushing over to the cauldron and removing it from the flames.

"I can fix it," Scorpius claimed, watching as the blue liquid bubbled on the outside of the iron cauldron. "It just needs a little..."

"A few drops of house elf tears, I know," Malfoy smirked, sorting out the ingredients on his table. "You were raised by Severus, weren't you?"

Scorpius smiled brightly. "I was raised by my Papa, but sometimes our relationship wasn't all that good...but I spent a lot of time with my Uncle Sev. He trained me to be his apprentice, just like he did with you. I would have become his apprentice just like you did, but then Harry went and got himself killed, so I got sent here..."

"What good did Severus think you'd do?"

The younger teen pouted. "Excuse me? I can do plenty. I'm a talented brewer and I hold the secrets to every potion you and Uncle Sev have ever imagined. I even have your journal." He added the house elf tears while he said this, having found it before his dad had.

Harry could only watch in surprise at the two. They weren't concentrating at all at the ingredients they were picking up or the book in which the directions was written in, but as they added each element, they went through the steps as it was outlined in the text. He picked it up and read each part to make sure they were doing it right. As Malfoy dropped in a plant of some sort, Scorpius stirred the potion once clockwise (as he was standing on the other side of the cauldron, it was anti-clockwise for him) before three anti-clockwise rotations. Just as Malfoy moved to dispose of the roots of the plants, Scorpius grabbed them off him.

"They're not needed since they have absolutely no magical prop..."

"They add flavour," Scorpius said with a smile and a shrug. "It says so in your journal."

"What's with that?" Malfoy asked as a side thought, forcing the juices out of something fuzzy. "It's completely rude."

Scorpius laughed lightly. "If you knew who my Papa is, you wouldn't be surprised."

Grey eyes narrowed. "Better not be Blaise. I swear, if he is, I'll Crucio myself."

"My papa isn't Blaise Zabini. He's killed within a few months." He covered his mouth with his hand again. "I didn't mean that."

Eyes widened as they looked at him.

"He's _killed_?" Malfoy demanded.

"I'm not allowed to talk about that sort of stuff. I not supposed to give timeframes that accurate. You're not allowed to do anything to stop it."

Malfoy reached out and lowered Scorpius' hand from his mouth. "Scorp, it's not that easy with Blaise. He's a very good friend of mine and he'll always have a place in my heart."

"You tried to stop it in my time and near-you _love_ him?"

"For reasons less than honourable," It was said with a light laugh. As Scorpius cocked his head to one side, the laugh got stronger. "He was my first."

Scorpius shook his head. "You always told me that Papa was the only person you ever loved."

Harry couldn't help but have to cover his grin with his hand.

"Dear Merlin, you were raised by either a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor," Malfoy grumbled, placing a hand on Scorpius' shoulder.

"Hey," Harry argued, "Gryffindors aren't _that_ innocent."

"Ickle Potter not a virgin anymore?" Malfoy instantly teased but it became light-hearted quickly as Scorpius caught on.

"Oh! He was _your first_! I get it now." He started to pout in the same manner that had Severus and Remus answering him. "I wasn't raised like a normal kid. I don't have the same social experiences as other kids my age. Anyway, virginity-stealing or not, Blaise Zabini dies a horrible death and there's nothing you can do about it. You try to stop it, but my grandfather stops you from getting in the way. You would have been killed as well."

"What happens?" Harry asked. Scorpius sealed his mouth back up. "You've already given us a time frame and that we can't prevent it. It's not going to get any better on your behalf. Snape's still gonna kick your arse when you get back. I'll pin a note on you and everything."

Scorpius set him with a glare both the Malfoy and Snape families would be proud of. "Mean jerk," he accused, stirring the potion once more. He let out a loud sigh before he continued. "His mother is a black widow. Plain and simple. She marries the rich men and kills them for their money. She goes after Voldemort, and Nagini doesn't like that very much at all..."

"How do you know about her?" Harry interrupted.

"You were eaten by her," Scorpius said bluntly. "The whole wizarding world knew about her by the time I had left." He paused in his stirring motions as Malfoy added the remains of the fuzzy ingredient. "There's something strange going on between Voldemort and his snake. I think she's an animagus, honestly. I know he talks to her...anyway...Mrs. Zabini goes out after Voldemort, trying to woo him. Nagini got really pissed off about it and in order to keep his precious snake happy, Voldemort tortured the lady by torturing and killing Blaise in front of her."

"You seem to know a lot about this."

"I can't say any more on the issue. I would be incriminating someone very important to me if I was to continue."

Malfoy rolled his eyes as if it wasn't obvious as to whom that someone was. He turned to Harry and deliberately rolled up his sleeves as he continued to work on slicing the pieces for the potion. Harry could clearly see his creamy, unmarked arms.

And that, of course, set his stomach jumping again. It was very rare that Malfoy showed his skin. It was nice skin, Harry realised. The colour was the same shade as his face, if not a little paler. He was also lightly muscled.

He mentally cursed himself over and over again for wanting to see more.

Harry quickly focused elsewhere, only to see a typical Malfoy smirk waiting for him. This time, however, it was worn by Scorpius.

"Maybe I should let you two enjoy your time together. Ron and Hermione are probably going crazy over this..."

"They know about me already, don't they?" Scorpius asked, now looking into the potion. He quickly glanced up as his dad. "How many newt claws did you put in?"

"Six," Malfoy answered simply.

"You should have put in seven. The number's better for magical properties and would have made the potion better..."

"Don't make me drown you in this."

Scorpius was smiling greater as he turned back for Harry's answer.

"Yeah, they know."

Malfoy nearly snorted at the knowledge. "You can't keep a single secret from them, can you? They have to know everything about the Golden Boy."

Harry felt like he should have puffed his chest out at the accusation or something. "I can keep a secret from them. I have a few going at the moment."

"Sure you do." Malfoy started to bottle the potion before he raised his eyes to Scorpius. "Maybe you should have given it one more anti-clockwise stir before I added the root."

"Not likely," Scorpius objected. "I've brewed this a thousand times and it always turns out the right shade of blue."

"I can keep a secret from them," Harry repeated, though he didn't really know why.

"Again, sure you do, Potter. Hurry back to them before they report your abduction by Death Eaters to Dumbledore."

Scorpius piped up again. "Do you trust him?"

"Potter or Dumbledore?" Malfoy stopped for a moment. "Neither, actually. Continue."

"Professor Dumbledore," Scorpius clarified. "Do you trust him, Harry?"

Harry didn't really have to think it over. "Not as much as I used to." At Malfoy's smirk, he glared at him. "Tell any of your snakes that, and I'll personally remove your ability to create Scorpius."

"Sounds kinky. Keep that to you and your girl weasel," Malfoy told him with a shudder. "Hetero love...it's so cringe-worthy."

"Don't I know it?" Harry grumbled before he realised what he was doing. Malfoy's knife dropped from his hand in an instant. Harry hissed out a curse before he turned and left the room.

Malfoy bent to retrieve the knife, only to stand with a smirk on his face. "Is he gay in your time?" he asked Scorpius, who was smiling.

"He marries a man. They have two children together with your potion," Scorpius admitted. "He doesn't know about the gender of his spouse, though."

"This is interesting."

"He only sleeps with that one man, though. So don't get any ideas. Especially not when I'm here. The last thing I need is to walk in on you going at it."

"You're incredibly brash for someone who mistook my losing of my virginity for love," Malfoy pointed out.

Scorpius dug out the Malfoy smirk again. "As I said to Uncle Sev last night, I mightn't have been Sorted, but I do believe I have a lot more Slytherin traits than Hufflepuff ones."

Malfoy returned the look before he realised he desperately needed to sit down. He was actually standing there, having a conversation with his future son as if they were close friends and always had been.

There had been something in that earlier embrace that had proved it all to him. It was like he was holding to single most precious object in the world and every time he looked at the boy from that moment on, he realised it over and over again. That child was his. He had created him with someone he loved very much. He could feel it. It was like Scorpius was passing on whatever love he had for him for just being his dad, and was passing along the love of his papa at the same time. It was incredibly strange to the Slytherin, that anyone could feel that much love just from an embrace, but he could feel it all. The way it felt made him wonder how much he really did love his husband.

"Dad, are you okay?" Scorpius asked, standing by Malfoy's chair.

Malfoy swallowed dryly before he wrapped his arms around Scorpius' waist, pulling his stomach to his face in a hug. "You're special," Malfoy muttered into the boy's robes. "Your papa and I...we must have loved you so much."

He felt a pair of arms around his head, returning the embrace. "Yeah. You both did all you could to make me happy and safe."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been in your life. You must have missed out on so much."

"I was five, but I guess that's why I've come to you. You need to stop handing over your potions."

"They aren't dangerous, Scorp, I promise," Malfoy claimed, raising his head to look his son in the eye. "I don't make anything that'll hurt people because I know that's what they'd be put towards. I give them over to my father to keep the three of us safe. As long as I don't embarrass him in front of the Dark Lord, he, my mother and I are safe. He'll kill me if I don't."

"Have you given them a netting potion yet?" Scorpius asked, silently hoping for a negative answer.

He received it. "I've never even thought of such a thing," Malfoy admitted instantly.

"The moment they get their hands on a potion like that, it's all over. You can't let them get it, Dad. Go to Dumbledore to keep you safe..."

"Not even Potter trusts that old fool, Scorpius," Malfoy hissed, almost pulling away from his son. "I can't go to him."

"Then go to Harry. He likes me. He'll protect you because of me. I know he will."

"You certainly are naive."

Scorpius smiled at that. "Yeah. I guess it's part of my nature."

That had Malfoy lowering his head again. "Your papa definitely isn't a Slytherin."

"Who's to say he's even from the UK? You almost went to Durmstrang; you never know what you might find. But Dad, please, whatever you do, don't give them anymore potions. You have to go to protection."

"I can't just turn my back on my family."

"They've already turned their backs on you! If they cared about you, they wouldn't threaten you with death like that..."

Malfoy ripped himself away from Scorpius at that. "You weren't raised as a Malfoy at all. The behaviour of my parents is nothing for you to be criticising, Scorpius. You know nothing of the pure blood ways."

"Then it's a damn good thing Papa and I have Muggle blood, isn't it?" Scorpius took a step back as his eyes clouded over with tears again. "I didn't want to fight with you, Daddy. I wanted it to be a good reunion. We shouldn't be fighting. We should never be fighting."

Malfoy stood and pulled Scorpius back into his arms. "We won't fight as long as you don't talk to me about your grandparents...your papa's a Muggle?"

"Hell no. My papa's an amazing wizard. He works for the Ministry before it's taken over by Voldemort."

"He's on the Light side?"

Scorpius stepped away from Malfoy again. "Yes, he is. And I'm proud of all his accomplishments. That's another reason why you need to stop handing over your creations. The more you do it, the less happy my papa will be with you. The less happy he is, the less likely you two will fall in love. And that means I won't be born." Malfoy ruffled the boy's hair before he let out a heavy sigh. "It's not as if you were planning on joining Voldemort because of your own wants, now is it?"

"I've never wanted to side with him," Malfoy admitted softly. "But these things can't be helped. I'm a Malfoy. If I don't..."

"Get Harry to protect you. He will. You two become really close over this year. It happened in my time. And you two didn't seem to hate each other the way Uncle Sev described it to me..."

"I don't have a clue why that just happened."

-

**Hope you enjoyed it. See you next Friday.**


	3. Chapter Three: Angerona

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Sorry, guys. I just realised that the results of the poll I did in MBUS said that My Own Control would be the next one posted. Thing is, try as I may, I couldn't get the emotions right. Give me some time. It'll be the next one after this...or the one after that...I had a new plot...**

**And I'm sorry if I end up missing a few weeks...I started a new job on Tuesday and they're giving me full days when I'm a full time student...so I've got less time to write as much...**

**Saki-18: No!! I didn't mean to make Harry sound like the sub!! He isn't. He could never be the sub in any of my fics...**

**Katyuska: Sorry...this one isn't meant to be a sad one...more humorous than sad...**

**-**

**Chapter Three: Angerona, Roman Goddess of Secrecy**

-

_I remember the morning of my dad's tenth year anniversary. It was only a few weeks after my fifteenth birthday, and it was no different from the other years. Papa was ready to go to the cemetery long before I was out of bed. He was gone before I had finished my breakfast. It didn't bother me. I know how much he likes his private time with Dad. _

_When I got there, he was curled up between Dad's grave and Lily's grave. He couldn't stop crying. Not like I could blame him, though. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose the love of your life and your daughter. _

_I settled beside him, making sure I wasn't on either of my family members, and cuddled him. He wouldn't stop shaking. That was normal. _

_I always hated seeing Papa like this. He would cry until he had nothing left in him and gingerly walk home, rather than Apparate. I'd Floo out, the same way I got there._

_The Malfoy cemetery wasn't too far from the estate and had its own house connected. It's from there that I can Floo in and out of the place. I only visit three times a year. The warden tends to the graves. I never knew how often Papa visited. _

_It took Papa forever to get home that day. It wasn't like him to keep me waiting like that. He knew how much I hated it; how much I worried about him. When he did, he went straight to bed. _

_A week later, he was gone._

-

Harry was thinking the exact same thing as Malfoy had been. What had happened wasn't normal. The lack of animosity between the two was beyond strange. He was with Malfoy and they hadn't fought once. He even promised to hide certain facts about Lucius Malfoy.

"I'm doomed," he muttered to himself as he reached the seventh floor. He knew Hermione and Ron would be waiting for him in the common room.

In a situation very similar to the bombardment he suffered the night before, Harry found himself at the mercy of Hermione's questions yet again.

Naturally, Hermione wanted to know everything there was about Harry's secret errand this Scorpius kid he had spent so much time thinking about.

"What errand did Snape want you to run?"

"He just wanted me to take Scorpius to Malfoy," Harry responded easily. He instantly wanted to return to those dungeons.

-

Draco's eyes widened as he saw Scorpius' make-shift room. It was the same size as Severus' office, he instantly noticed, and was lined with more books than he could have imagined. A tiny bed was situated in one corner, but Muggle chemistry and advanced potion brewing equipment was connected throughout the room. He had to duck and dodge between the pumps, vials and tubes of the set up.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Draco asked as Scorpius ducked to get towards his bed. It looked as if he had been there all his life already. "Is your bedroom like this at the Manor?"

Scorpius had to laugh at that. "Papa gave me hell for it."

"I can't imagine Severus lending you all this in the time you've been here..."

"I brought it all with me." With that, Scorpius tapped his bag. "Only the basics, though."

Draco's grey eyes roamed the room as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Scorpius. "Yeah, basics, obviously."

Rolling his eyes as his dad's sarcastic comment, Scorpius grabbed the only book on his bed. "This is your work journal. I can't let you see it, though, since you name Papa a few times. But it has every potion you've ever tried to tweak. It's how I've gotten so good."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "It's got your papa's name in it, huh?" he asked, taking a swipe at the leather-bound book. Scorpius merely lifted it out of his reach. "How the hell did you get so tall, anyway?"

"Papa is kinda tall. He's taller than me. And from what Papa told me, Grandfather wasn't all that short either. He used to tease you about how you ended up getting your height from your mother." He started to flick through the journal until he found the potion he was looking for. Still keeping the book away from Draco's arm reach, he read out the ingredients. "This is the one that gave me life, so to say. I don't think I would have been born if I couldn't have been from the both of you."

"I become a sappy romantic."

Scorpius laughed again. "You're the one who wants to protect he-who-took-your-virginity."

The older blonde lifted a hand up to play with one of the tubes in front of his face. "Why weren't you ever Sorted?"

"My papa wanted to keep me safe, so I went to Muggle schools instead. He knew I looked too much like a Malfoy to get away without any attention so he enrolled me in public Muggle schools instead. The first time I stepped foot in Hogwarts was a few months ago."

That caused a frown to form on Draco's brow. "You wouldn't have enjoyed that at all."

"That's the only fight you two had. You wanted me to be happy, and Papa wanted my safety."

"I would have wanted you to be safe as well..."

"Yeah, you did. It's just...you recognised that my happiness was an important part of my life. I was really surprised that my papa thought that way after how he was treated over the years..." Scorpius stopped what he was saying before smiling brightly at his dad again. "I'm so glad I get to see you again. And you agree, right? Being a servant to Voldemort isn't a smart idea. If you continue to give over the potions, I'll tell my papa in this time and I won't be born, okay?"

Draco's jaw would have dropped at the threat had he not been a Malfoy. "You wouldn't...that's your own life that you're threatening."

"I would. Not only would you be losing a family, but you'd never end up with the one person you truly fall in love with."

"You're a closet Malfoy when Potter's around. He'd probably die of shock if he ever saw you acting this way." Grey eyes narrowed as they observed the boy again. "I'll try to hold back on the potions, but I can't promise you anything."

"You have to promise that you won't give them any potions designed to do all the capturing work, Dad. If you do...if you do, the whole war will won by them. And it can't happen like that. I won't let it happen like that. It's too horrible. They all die."

Draco shuffled closer to his son, pulling him into his arms again. He saw how white he had turned just by thinking about the future and the things to occur. The taller boy instantly wrapped himself around the comforting body that belonged to his dad.

"And...And I saw you and Lily..."

The tears came this time. He started to shake so hard in Draco's arms. Draco felt his heart burst as he felt for his child, holding him in to his chest as close as he possibly could. The last thing he wanted was for this boy to be in any form of pain or unhappiness.

"Papa died, too. I'm not going back," Scorpius promised. "I don't want to go back to a world where everyone's dead. It's horrible. I hate it. I'm staying here for the rest of my life with you and Papa. I won't ever lose the two of you ever again."

Draco just shushed him and rocked back and forth with him.

To be honest, Malfoys never had this problem. Raised as the perfect stone, most Malfoys have reason to doubt they can produce tears, let alone break down and cry like Scorpius was. Draco couldn't think of the last time he had cried. Lucius had stopped him a long time ago from ever letting his emotions from getting the better of him. Narcissa mightn't have had the strict anti-emotion childhood Lucius had, but the moment they were married, she adopted the Malfoy tear-ducts of steel.

Unfortunately, they also came with the expectations of the Malfoy family. Draco mightn't have had much to cry about growing up, having been given anything he could have possibly have wanted, but he knew he missed out on valuable parenting lessons because of the emotionless state his family expected of him. He had never shared a moment like this with his parents. Draco couldn't imagine the great Lucius Malfoy cuddling his son close as he cried over fallen friends and family. Narcissa most certainly wouldn't have done it, either. The Black household might have been a more heartfelt place (if the rumours of Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks were anything to go by), but she didn't have it in her to pass down that lifestyle to her only child.

The more he thought about Scorpius, the more he started to like the idea of siding with the Light Side. If he went against his father, he was bound to a life with love. It wasn't heard of in the Malfoy family. His parents never loved each other. Their marriage was arranged the moment Narcissa was born. A betrothal had never been set up for him, thankfully. Instead, it had been decided that the Dark Lord would choose Draco's wife from the long list of Death Eater daughters he had on his side. Lucius was all too happy to agree to these terms. As was every other Death Eater with a child. They were the second generation of Death Eaters. Draco didn't know much about Muggles, but he once overheard his godfather likening the situation to that of a certain religion. They were encouraged to procreate in order to create more followers. Of course, Draco didn't listen to that Muggle drabble, but found it funny that the Dark Lord was being compared to a Muggle religion like that.

But if what Scorpius said was true, then Draco would have married for love. He would have created this child with that man because they wanted a child, not because they were forced to under the Dark Lord's rule or because of the Malfoy expectation. He was capable of bringing a child into this world under the circumstances he wanted to. Despite what many would say about him, Draco Malfoy welcomed the idea of falling in love. He wanted to experience the life his parents were never privy to. He wanted love in his marriage and love with his children.

Scorpius continued to sob, shaking harder in Draco's arms as he thought this over.

Draco's arms tightened as he promised his son that everything would be alright.

-

The Room of Requirement was frequently visited. The DA no longer met in secret. Anyone willing to learn a spell or two was fully capable of walking right through the front doors and into the class. Harry was in charge of the classes, and ran two a week. One during most of Saturday (unless there was Quidditch-he had been banned from the Hogsmeade trips due to the threat it caused) and another on a Wednesday night (end of class 'til five minutes before curfew). With the thoughts of an impending war about to crash down on them, the students felt much calmer about these lessons.

They were happy with Remus' teaching position. He taught them well, following the plan for the year. They just appreciated the extra classes that helped them hone the curses. The younger years were also better prepared since they were normally sheltered from the stronger spells.

Sometimes Remus would join in on the DA, teaching a spell Harry had a harder time perfecting. That then grew to include Hagrid, who brought in a few creatures every now and then for them to learn against. Severus even participated once when Remus had dragged him along to assist with the duel.

Harry, Ron and Hermione spent their Tuesday and Thursday nights studying extra for the classes. They had to master the skills before they taught them to everyone else. For this, alone, Hermione was granted permission to any book in the Restricted Section by Remus and Minerva. She could take them out whenever she pleased, but no one was to be with her as she got them.

On Sundays, they spent extra time working on affliction curses for Harry. Unlike the rest of the DA, he knew for certain that he'd have to use these skills in his future. It wasn't as if he was planning to defend himself against some random attack. Whatever came at him was for his life, and he was more than determined to bring Voldemort to his end. After everything he had done, Harry felt nothing but hatred for the man and accepted what the prophecy meant for him. He had to willingly murder another being to save the rest of the wizarding world-perhaps even the Muggle one as well.

At the moment, they were learning some simple first aid spells. They were partnered up, one receiving simple wounds so the other could heal it. Remus was here for this one, just in case.

Harry was paired with Ron, who was sitting up, unable to see Harry as he worked over him. The redhead was beaten beyond recognition. Both eyes had swelled shut, his bottom lip was fat and bloody, and a long slice on his left cheek trickled steadily with his own blood. That was the first thing Harry tended to. The first spell closed the wound. The second he cast washed away the blood so he could see the afflictions better. The third turned Ron's freckles green.

Remus raised an eyebrow at Harry's mistake. He hadn't been focusing at all, he had noticed. And now, during one of the easiest tasks, Harry had stuffed up. From over Harry's shoulder, he cast the correct spell, gaining Harry's attention. Ron, now able to see out of one eye, looked up at Harry, who had turned to Remus.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, noticing the strange gleam in Harry's eyes. He was in a far off world, he observed. Knowing that you were having your wounds treated to by a distracted person was unnerving to say the least, so he was happy when Remus finished off the job and sent him over to the group of three to continue with the practicing.

Standing, Harry exited the Room of Requirement with Remus by his side. It caught the attention of a few people, being Hermione and Ginny, before the room shifted slightly. A second doorway appeared and opened into a private room.

"I'm guessing they wanted to talk privately," Ginny supposed before Hermione cleared up a gash to her forehead. "What's going on with him? He's been out of it all morning. The only time he seemed remotely interested in anything was when he left to do whatever it was Snape told him to."

Hermione sighed heavily, placing Ginny's nose back in place. "It's far too complicated to explain right now. Something's going on and he's not really telling us about it. I think he might have met someone special, though."

Ginny smiled weakly. "Someone male by any chance?"

Brown eyes turned to her in near shock. "What do you mean by that?"

The redhead checked around them for any keen listeners. "One of the underlying reasons why we broke up was because our one time together was a mess. He had a lot of trouble with it. He told me about two months ago that he reckons that happened because I'm a woman."

"Harry's gay?" It came out in a hissed whisper.

"He's not too sure just yet. But it seems he could be getting somewhere." With that, Ginny cocked her head to the entrance of the Room.

"I don't know," Hermione continued, a little sceptical. "When I said he met someone special, I didn't mean it that way. This kid's been on his mind for the past night."

"A kid?" Ginny's eyes lingered on the door. "If you say so."

-

Harry knew why Remus had steered him out of the room, but that didn't mean that he really knew what to say about the whole situation. To be honest, he didn't really think anything could be said. He was concentrating on things that shouldn't concern him, despite the fact that they did. He should have been more focused on the task at hand.

The werewolf sat leaning against the stone wall of the hallway as Harry paced back and forth, trying to gather his thoughts over what had just happened.

When he had had enough of Harry's silence, he decided to through his own suggestion out.

"Did Malfoy do something when Severus sent you that way? Or was it Scorpius?"

"I feel something whenever I see him," Harry admitted weakly. "I saw how they were together; it was like watching Fred and George. They knew each other so well. They're father and son..."

"And?"

Harry paused to turn and look at Remus. "It was amazing, Remus. Scorpius knew Malfoy's work inside and out. Even though Malfoy died years ago, Scorpius still knew everything there is to know about Malfoy's style. They were working so well together. It was like they were in each other's minds."

"And?" Remus repeated. "How is that supposed to excuse you from turning Ron's face green? You're not focusing because you don't know your father inside and out? You want to have what they have? What?"

"Scorpius-he's constantly in my mind now, Moony. It's like he's taken it over. Hermione and Ron reckon he's cursed me or something, but I don't think he has...I can't concentrate."

"You have to concentrate, Harry. Right now, your mind has to be on improving your skills."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "What if I can't beat him? I can't even do it twenty years into the future. I'm not strong enough."

"That's why we're going to train harder than ever. And I'm sure Scorpius has changed Draco's mind about the Death Eaters. He's a clever kid; he'll find a way how to stop that from happening. You'll be fine."

Green eyes rolled. "How will we know if it's enough? Surely Malfoy can't be the deciding factor in this war. I can't imagine his potions would be that powerful."

"If he's good enough to be Severus' apprentice, then yes, they'd have to be that strong. Severus has never once taken an apprentice over all these years because none could surpass him. If he chose Draco, then he must have seen great potential."

"That sounds more than a little arrogant."

"It's how wizarding apprenticeships work," Remus told him offhandedly. "But that's not important. Draco will play his role, as will you. It's up to you to secure a liveable world for the likes of Scorpius and his baby sister. But we're always here to help you, Harry. Never forget that. Ron, Hermione, Severus, Albus, myself, even Scorpius; we all want to help you, but you have to concentrate and get stronger."

Harry groaned. It wasn't as if he needed a reminder on that. Sure, the others were there to help him fight the easy fights, but he had to willingly take someone's life in order to make everyone happy and safe.

And then Remus' words hit him.

"Scorpius is _not_ going to be participating in any fight! He doesn't even have a wand! He, like Snape, should stay away from all battlefields."

Remus laughed. "A Death Eater requires great fighting skills, Harry. Severus will be needed on the battlefield as much as I am."

The younger Gryffindor snorted at that. "Yeah, 'cause he was so good at defending himself against the Marauders back in the day."

Laughter came from Remus' throat again. "The Marauders were incredibly vicious and probably the reason why he got so good at duelling. Besides, that was a long time ago."

"Before he became a Muggle-murdering Death Eater, you mean?"

Harry watched as Remus shook his head tiredly, the mousy brown strands of his hair falling into place over his eyes. "You still don't trust him?"

"I never will." The mood darkened before Harry slumped against the wall next to Remus. "So, who's this guy you're going to marry?"

He couldn't help but smile at the unhealthy shade of red Remus promptly turned. "It-it's none of your business, Harry."

"Sure it's not. So, do you reckon you'll use Malfoy's baby potion together?" It just darkened Remus' complexion. "Do I know him? I mean, I'm going to have to meet him to approve of him sometime soon. I can't imagine you'll keep your hands off him for much longer now that you know it's actually going to work."

"You're a git," Remus muttered, shoving Harry away playfully. "And what about you, huh? You marry some guy. I didn't..."

"Is that what Scorpius said?"

"You don't seem too shocked by that knowledge," the werewolf observed bluntly.

This time, it was Harry's face that darkened. "Yeah, well," a hand came up to mess with his hair again as he tried to find the words, "I guess that's what happens when you...well, when you already know that you're, you know."

"Gay?"

"Yeah, that one."

"And how long ago was this information gathered and how come I wasn't informed of it?"

Harry sent Remus an embarrassed glare. "Like you're one to talk. I didn't know that you were gay, either."

Remus laughed again. "It's different for me than it is to you. I wasn't raised by Muggles. We wizards understand that love can be found within all races, breeds and genders. We accept that sort of stuff. I'm surprised you didn't come to me to complain about it or anything."

He grumbled this time, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I guess I've known since I tried to sleep with Ginny however many months ago it was. And I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure what to make of it, let alone sure that it was even happening. I mean, Muggles get killed for this sort of things, and have been for such a long time now."

"Witches were persecuted. They turned out to be a lot better than what you would have originally thought."

"Yeah, I know."

Remus ruffled Harry's hair this time, though it was already thoroughly tussled by Harry's treatment of it. "So how'd you know?"

Harry's face turned as red as Remus had ever seen a face go without the aid of a hex. "Like I said, I _tried_ to sleep with Ginny."

"Oh."

"It just wouldn't work. So, yeah, end of that story, thanks."

Remus nodded his head sympathetically. "Of course." They sat in silence for a short time. "So, do you like some guy or something? Or did you just know after that incident?"

Harry rested his forehead against his knees. "I'm attracted to _one_ guy. And it's only because he's just that damn gorgeous. It's his body and nothing more. I could never enjoy being anywhere near him, let alone a conversation with him, so I don't like him as a person."

"That helps prove it, I suppose."

He nodded his head. "And I can't help it that he's that good looking. No one should be that good looking. And his skin should be illegal. That much I know. He's gay, though, so that's promising, but I'm not in love with him or anything, and it's never going to get that far since he's such a horrible person..."

"Draco?" The question went unanswered. "Looks certainly run in that family."

"Hell yeah."

"Fantastic genes. Narcissa isn't too bad on the eyes, either."

"She looks as if she's got something disgusting under her nose-that is _not_ attractive in the least," Harry objected, looking up at Remus with near shock.

"You'd look like that too if you were married to Lucius Malfoy."

"Perhaps."

"There's a lot that goes into being a Malfoy, apparently."

Harry couldn't help his cold laugh. "Yeah, and Scorpius missed out on all of the training he's going to need. Malfoy's going to be so surprised when he sees how different Scorpius is to him. They work the same in the potions lab, but their personalities are so unalike. I can't help but wonder what Scorpius' papa was like to raise a kid that smart and different."

"You need to get your thoughts off him."

"It's a lot better than thinking about his dad. That'll distract me more."

"Point taken. It could be worse, though. You could be attracted to Scorpius."

Harry shuddered, which Remus was very thankful for. The last thing he really wanted to see was Harry being infatuated with his own son and not even knowing it. "Scorpius is different. Whenever I look at him, I get all funny inside, like he's the most important person in this world to me, but at the same time, I know it's not _those_ types of feelings. I never want him to get hurt or to have to know what it's like to lose everyone close to him, even though he already has. I feel like I'm his guardian or something. I just...you saw me last night. I got really protective when he suggested that he could help with the fighting. It's not going to happen for as long as I still have some influence within the Order."

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "We could always get him in some of the DA classes to strengthen him up a bit."

Harry shook his head this time. "That's never going to happen. He's not allowed near anything that'll make him think he's strong enough to fight against the Death Eaters."

"That's for him, his dad and his papa to decide, and since you've claimed that you could never fall for Draco, you can't be Scorpius' papa. Scorpius said his parents are very much in love with each other."

"I don't think Malfoy could ever fall in love with anyone," Harry speculated. "I mean, love doesn't seem to run high in the Malfoy Rule Book. I heard him tell Scorpius that Lucius would kill him if he didn't do as he said. And Narcissa doesn't look as if she really cares about Malfoy, either, from what I've seen of her."

"Narcissa was trained to be the perfect little Malfoy by Lucius when they wed. Any woman willing to allow herself to be an incubator for a man's heir couldn't have had much of a soul to begin with, though. I'm sure that's all the Malfoy men see her as, anyway."

Harry groaned again. His fascination with those two male Malfoys was becoming complicated. "Anyway, the only reason Malfoy even came up in this conversation is because he's the only proof I have of my sexuality. I don't want to talk about him more than I have to, and I really don't want to say any more on it in case someone actually hears it. We're not really in a private place here."

Remus smiled widely at that. "Indeed we're not. Perhaps we should put this conversation away for a better time."

"No, I'd rather it never popped its overly-blonde head up ever again."

"You're focused?"

"Even less than when we left the Room."

Remus sighed, shoving Harry playfully again. "You're pathetic. Think of a girl and get your head out of the clouds."

-

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose as he went over one of the several essays he had set for his seventh-years. Due to the heavy NEWT requirements, only a few students had passed on to reach this seventh year in his class. Leading the class was Draco Malfoy. That boy had shot forward above the likes of Hermione Granger, Ernie Macmillan and Terry Boot. Those four students were the leading students in their House, but Draco had really surprised him.

It was his role, as the Head of House, to update the students on their chosen career paths and what they needed to do in order to achieve those goals. At first, Draco had admitted that he didn't expect to live long enough to settle down in a job. He was aware of the dangers his father had thrown him in to, and had seemingly accepted his early grave. Not even a month later, he returned to Severus' desk and had confided in him that he didn't want to become a Death Eater, but a potions master instead.

As that had been his own chosen profession, Severus had told him exactly what Draco had to do. He had given him a list of extra texts books and theories for Draco to study, and within three months, he had returned, asking for more. The Malfoy heir often did this, sometimes with his own potions to see if they were acceptable in Severus' eyes. The more he worked, the more Severus recognised the potential within Draco to become his apprentice.

In an age-old tradition, a wizard could only accept an apprentice that could surpass the master's skills. Only then could they be awarded the title of 'master' and go on to success.

In all his years of teaching Draco Malfoy was the first with the knowhow and the will for Severus' interest to be tipped. These thoughts had entered his mind not even two months ago.

The arrival of Scorpius Malfoy-Potter however, had his mind reeling. If the boy could create a potion capable of changing the DNA of an embryo, the possibilities were limitless. Not even Severus had imagined such a potion could be patented. Only the best of the best could have created that potion and he was more than intrigued with Draco's potential now.

Scorpius' age was also a testament to Draco's skills. Only a strong potion could send anything back in time twenty years and only a strong potions master could design it. Granted, it seemed that both Scorpius and Severus had worked on it, but it was more than likely that Draco had started it.

The piece of parchment he was holding slipped out of his hand and drifted to the desk he was sitting at as he continued to think. Scorpius had admitted that Severus had taken Draco as his apprentice. Severus searched the desk for the essay Draco had written. The assignment had been to identify the difference between two similar ingredients. He hadn't read Draco's yet (saving the best for last), but knew that it was going to receive the best mark already. Draco had taken his every word to heart in his endeavour to better his skills. He wasn't the neatest writer he had ever seen (that title went to Granger), but his handwriting was pleasant and actually legible (he glared at the scribble Potter called an essay). It also always proved to be an essay worth reading, often pointing out things Severus had never noticed or considered.

The essay was returned to the table as another thought struck him. Something he had never considered had been written in the note he had written to himself. He said that he had to look towards those he never normally would in order to find happiness. The first thing he thought of was Lupin. The werewolf had been on his mind night and day and he knew exactly why. He had begun to feel an attraction for the other professor back in Draco's third year when Lupin was teaching at Hogwarts for the first time. However, the attraction was quickly pushed aside as momentary insanity when he discovered Lupin sneaking into the Shrieking Shack that night. Initially thinking that the werewolf hadn't changed at all, he had actually started to think ill of himself.

Now that Lupin was back in his life, Severus felt that flame return to his chest, urging him forward to make something of those emotions he locked shut four years prior. He paced over to his bedside table and picked up the letter, rereading it for what felt like the millionth time that day alone. Reality hit him hard as he slammed the sheet of paper back down onto the table, scrunching it under his hand as he did. The damned werewolf was with that clumsy bint (he had started to refer to Tonks as such since the first month into this semester, when he realised that his feelings for Lupin were a lot stronger than he originally thought), happily engaged to be married with plenty furry babies promised for the future. He glared at the paper before he rolled his eyes at his childish behaviour. The letter was ignored as he turned back to his chair, only to have a knock on the door interrupt him.

Throwing his robes over his less formal clothes, Severus left his private chambers and headed for the front door to his office.

"I'm busy," he said to Draco who had two books clutched to his chest. "I haven't lent you any books recently..."

"Scorpius brought them with him. His bag has one of those expanded charms of it, courtesy of the Mudblood..." He received a sharp smack on the back of his head for that. "Scorp!"

Scorpius' head popped out from under the Invisibility Cloak. "Most of my friends in my time are Muggles, thank you very much. If you want to have a say in who I befriend, live long enough to meet my friends next time," Scorpius hissed before he smiled up at his 'uncle'.

Severus rolled his eyes again before he stepped aside to let the two of them through. "You seem to be adapting to fatherhood quite well," he cynically claimed.

"I'm sure I would have found that funny had it been a good joke," Draco claimed, ushering his son into the room. "This boy has more books on potions than I've ever seen in my life. He puts your collection to shame."

"Most of the books I have are from his collection, Dad," Scorpius argued. "And some are from the Malfoy library both here in England and the one over in France, and I got my hands on the Black library and Hermione stole some of the ones from the Restricted Section just after the school was abandoned..." He was listing them off on his fingers as he continued. "Uncle Sev took me through all the wizarding markets trying to find a few good ones, too. That's where we got that one." The thicker book in Draco's arms was pointed to. "That one taught me how to extract the..." Scorpius paused, looking at his dad. "You're not listening."

Draco gave him a smile before he handed the texts over to Severus. "They're amazing."

"I'm sure they are," Severus replied as he took a seat behind his desk. "What are you doing here?"

"He wanted to show you my books," Scorpius pouted, folding his arms over his chest as he sunk into one of the few chairs in the room. "He got really excited about them."

"I also wanted to show you the potion I finished today and last night." He fished them from his robes so he could hand them over. "Are you all right?"

Severus rubbed at his temples. "It's none of your business."

"He normally gets that look whenever I've done something stupid," Scorpius mentioned to his dad. Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"My idiotic moments receive the same treatment."

Draco eyed Scorpius closely, feeling a warm sensation spreading through his chest. He felt it every time he saw that boy, knowing that he had created this life. A small smile latched on to his lips before he could stop himself. It stuck well and he had to force himself to look away from the heaven that was his child.

"It was my own foolishness that did this," Severus admitted before he pulled a potion out of the top drawer of his desk. It was downed instantly.

"Ah, that's another thing you made me promise you," Scorpius started. "You told me I have to get you off the headache potions."

Severus gave him a glare as he tossed the vial back into the drawer. There was just something about this child that he didn't like.

And he seemed to click on to that quite well.

"Have I done something to offend you?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned. "Because I didn't mean to."

"You know what's written in that letter?"

"Only what you told me last night...it didn't mention anything about Moony, did it?"

That sealed it.

Once again, the boy understood it. "Oh crap."

-

**Hope you all enjoyed. **

**Please review me...XD**

**See you next Friday...hopefully...**


	4. Chapter Four: Fides

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Hello...! Is Jinko. Thanks for your reviews...I is hoping for more...XD**

**xDabberx: Yeah, I love writing his lines...it's always fun. **

**AnGeL's DrEaM: Okay, I hate your name...but I also loved writing Draco that way. We don't ever see any side of him other than that 'daddy's boy' that JK writes him as...**

**Everyone else...thanks for the great reviews.**

**Enjoy**

**-**

**Chapter Four: Fides, Roman Goddess of Faith and Loyalty**

-

_I didn't receive much training with my papa before his death. It was Uncle Sev who took me aside and taught me the few spells I knew. _

_It was tough learning these things. He would take me to the Shrieking Shack every now and then, but only after he thoroughly scoped it out of enemies and covered it with wards. Underage magic usage was very dangerous in my time. The Death Eaters would track down anyone under the age of seventeen to prevent them from learning curses strong enough to be a threat. That also meant, however, that the wards Uncle Sev put in place were just as deadly. They were a giveaway to anyone in surveillance for the Death Eaters that someone young was being trained. _

_As such, I only learnt the basics. The one time we were nearly caught, Papa punched Uncle Sev and I didn't see him for six months. _

_I hated him for the punishment he set for me. I wasn't allowed outside the Manor for months. _

_I told him I hated him for doing that to me. I told him over and over again. It wasn't fair that I was being treated that way. I didn't want to be sheltered like that. _

_Aunt Hermione told me one time that he had been locked inside his own room for days on end when he lived with his Muggle relatives. She said she couldn't understand why he would do the same thing to me. The more I thought about it, the more I hated him for it. _

_But one night, I heard him crying. It happened a lot with my papa since he missed Dad so much. He missed Lily and Dad and there was nothing we could do to bring them back and make him happy again. _

_This was different though. I heard him muttering my name instead of Dad's. He was apologising. Aunt Hermione had her arms wrapped around him as he cried, telling her that he was so sorry for what he had done to me; for trapping me the same way he had been. He told her over and over again that he couldn't lose me like he had lost everyone else. He told her that I was all that he had left. Papa said that he would change everything if he could. He said he would have sent me to live with someone else if only I would be safe and happy with them. He said he should have done that the moment my dad died. _

_It was the first time I had cried over his words. He kept telling her that he was a bad father. He wanted to do a better job. He wanted to start all over again. He said that he felt like giving in to Voldemort every time I told him that I hated him. He couldn't cope with my pain. It was worse than losing me. _

_And then he begged her to take me, to make me happy. It was the first time I had ever heard Aunt Hermione raise her voice. She yelled at him, refusing to take me in. _

_I went to him that night and apologised to him for everything I had said. _

_We didn't talk for a week._

_Uncle Sev and I never tried to train ever again._

-

The next Friday, it happened. Lucius firecalled his son and requested a potion specifically designed to capture the enemy.

And Draco refused to make it. He flat-out told his father, the patriarch of his family, that he would _not_ create such a potion. In the back of his mind, he knew he should have lied about it being too difficult, and he had even practiced what he was going to say, but when he saw his father's face, he knew he couldn't lie. It came out. The 'no' that he had been suppressing spilled from his lips before he could stop himself.

The silence that followed nearly killed him. And then his father disappeared from sight, ending the conversation completely.

Saturday was Quidditch. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. There'd be nothing in it. Potter would win without breaking a sweat.

The thought of the match brought a smile to Draco's face. Scorpius had begged him to let him watch it. He said he'd even cheer for Ravenclaw if it made him happier. Draco couldn't deny his child anything, he was quick to learn. The boy was granted the permission after one glance at his face. Those big green eyes of his were so familiar to him, and yet they were Draco's greatest weakness when Scorpius was concerned. He wanted nothing more than to please him just so he could see that happy glimmer in them.

Scorpius was allowed to go (and secretly cheer for Potter) as long as he was under the Invisibility Cloak.

That damned Cloak made everything make sense in Draco's mind. The attack at Hogsmeade and several other unexplained facts about Potter were clear. Scorpius told him that Potter had obtained it from his father somewhere along the way and figured that it would be alright for Scorpius to own. Why he hadn't given it to his own children was beyond him, but he didn't really care about that. The Cloak allowed Scorpius to get around easier. That was always greatly appreciated.

Draco tried to focus on Scorpius and the match, but found that the more he thought about it, the less he had to think about and would soon move on to the issue of his father. It made him shudder. The last thing he really wanted to do was think about how his father was going to deal with his defiance.

-

Harry groggily woke up. He had spent the whole night working on a new hex Hermione had somehow found and it seriously drained him. In all honesty, he couldn't imagine using that particular spell, but Remus had seen it to be handy.

What mattered now, though, was the Quidditch match. He got himself ready for it in a time that was slow for Ron and made his way down to the pitch, Firebolt in hand. Scorpius had caught him on his way back to his room the night before and over-excitedly told him that he was allowed to go watch him. There was something that made him fuzzy in his chest to know that the teen was eager to watch him play.

Scorpius had that wonderful talent about him, Harry realised. Whenever the boy was around, Harry forgot everything bad that had happened that day. The impossibly difficult essay Snape set was forgotten about. Parkinson's teasing and taunts had no effect anymore. He didn't worry about any of that crap and focused his attention on the blonde, interested in their conversations and nothing else.

Hermione had started to express some worry about how close they were getting. He supposed it made sense since he was seemingly obsessed with the Malfoy heir. And if he wasn't focused on Scorpius, his eyes were slipping towards Malfoy himself. It worried her deeply. More than once, she had dragged him to the side to ask him about what was going on. He would reply that he was fine and that they didn't have to worry about him so much.

That, of course, had Hermione thinking of Ginny's words and the possibility of Harry and Malfoy being together. Although it seemed beyond insane and impossible, she had seen strange things happen. Harry hadn't yet mentioned his sexuality to her or to Ron (who had no idea), but she was hoping that he would trust her enough some time soon.

She arrived at the Quidditch pitch earlier than most others and found herself a good seat. With time, the stands started to fill as per usual. Since everyone else she was close to was actually on the team, she was normally alone during these games. That never really bothered her.

This time, though, she felt someone deliberately bump into her. Turning around to find no one, she frowned and reached out. Coming in contact with someone, she smiled.

"Good morning Scorpius," she greeted fondly. Although she questioned certain things about the boy, she couldn't deny that Harry was a lot happier around him than he usually was. She didn't have anything against the boy, either. She just didn't really know him. He always gave her knowing looks, though, and she supposed that being from the future, he would know a lot about her.

"Good morning," he returned in a soft whisper. "Dad told me I can watch the match today. This is my first Quidditch match."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you serious? This is the first match the son of Draco Malfoy is allowed to watch?"

He laughed sheepishly. "If you knew who my papa is, it'd be even more of a shock."

Hermione felt him manoeuvre himself around so that he was standing in front of her, wary not to bump into any of the other students.

"Maybe you should have gone to the teacher's stand."

"I want to feel what it's like to be a student here," Scorpius admitted weakly. "My dad's not going to be here, though. He wanted to work some more. He says he has a lot of studying to do if he's going to be Uncle Sev's apprentice."

-

The match was over much quicker than Scorpius expected. It didn't stop him from watching in awe, though. His papa was amazing up on his broom like that. He was faster than he ever could have imagined, zipping between players to find the elusive golden snitch. Back in his time, Scorpius had heard many tales of this game from Hermione's children. They loved the game.

He had begged his papa to teach him, but the pleas were dismissed as his papa decided it was too dangerous. He'd be an easy target up in the air like that.

Of course, Gryffindor had won, with his papa catching the snitch within forty minutes.

It bothered him, though, that he couldn't see any of the seventh year Slytherins in the stadium.

-

Although the training normally never occurred on the weekends coinciding with a Quidditch match, they had a session that day. Oddly enough, Snape had joined in that day.

"Anyone know what that's about?" Ginny whispered, coming up beside Harry.

"I didn't ask him," Harry denied. "And by the look on Moony's face, I don't think he did, either."

Remus had paused at the door. The moment his and Severus' eyes clashed, his breath caught in his throat. There was something about the way Severus was looking at him. It was so intense and...and...

"Moony?" Harry asked, placing a hand on the werewolf's elbow.

He jolted out of whatever trance he was in to look at Harry. When his eyes glanced back at Severus, he realised the moment was gone.

"It's nothing," Remus dismissed and started towards Severus.

Harry's eyebrow rose in question, but it was never answered.

Remus nearly choked on the tension as his feet took him towards the potions master. It was almost as if he knew about their future together. He mentally shook his head. Scorpius wasn't likely to tell Severus that sort of thing.

Then again, the two had rarely said anything over the past week, and what little it had been was tight and short before either felt the need to run away as fast as they possibly could.

Severus was observing each student enter the Room, if only to keep his eyes off the werewolf approaching him. He looked as nervous as he felt, which was a good thing, he figured. The boy had confirmed the relationship that occurs between the two, despite the marriage proposal Lupin had made. It explained why the boy tried to get close to Lupin, and why he trusted him so much.

"What brings you here?" he asked, sliding in next to the taller man.

"I felt like seeing what this army of yours can bring to the table," Severus responded dryly.

"It's not my army; Harry, Hermione and Ron have done all the work."

"Granger did all the work, Potter just mastered the spells. Weasley most likely stands there stupidly."

Remus laughed softly. "Correct, I suppose."

To most of the students there, they saw a conversation between two colleagues. To the Golden Trio, they saw an awkward conversation between two ex-enemies. It was incredibly tense and awkward and none of them knew why.

The DA had grown considerably. Now that it was a class anyone willing to improve on can walk in to, they had a lot more students from various Houses. They had their regulars, who would show up for every class provided they could make it, but then there were several others who joined in after Hermione told them what the class would be based around.

In fact, the small army was seen as the fifth House. Everyone knew about its existence and who the regulars were. Although Harry, Hermione and Ron didn't spend much time with their DA peers, the rest of the DA got along just fine. Lunchtimes were spent together-some even continued practicing out on the grounds with each other if they were having trouble with what they had learnt.

The DA members in Gryffindor were getting closer, too. Harry had noticed the changes in each of them. Neville's grades had improved since he had his wand replaced the previous year (someone had accidentally snapped it in half in one of the training sessions). It wasn't just the wand that helped this, though. He was more confident with the spells he was being taught in Charms and Transfiguration. He didn't make it through to NEWT Potions class, though, but that was to be expected. The shy Gryffindor was, without a doubt, the most improved of the lot.

Ginny was rarely beaten in a duel by anyone other than Harry, Hermione, Ron or Remus. She was one of the most outstanding members of the DA. It was obvious to anyone that her strength surpassed most members, often sending at least two opponents across to the other side of the room in a duel.

One of the things the DA loved was a 'Royal Rumble' type match where, once a month, they'd duel one against everyone. The Trio generally sat out on these, but Harry was usually the winner when they were included. Most of the time, Ginny won the matches. Neville was the proud winner of the most recent, as the rest of the DA singled out Ginny within the first few seconds. It was an interested face off between Neville and Terry Boot. Neville ended up successful by transfiguring a pillow into a bird (which had previously been revealed to be Terry Boot's greatest fear). The terrified Ravenclaw had instantly surrendered.

Of course, Harry couldn't help but see the irony in the boy's fear.

Remus had brought in a Boggart one day as a test. Most people survived the attack from their most feared. But he was proud to see that Neville had used the lesson well.

To no one's surprise, not a single Slytherin attempted to join the lessons. The Slytherins avoided the rest of the school like the plague. Over the past two years, the newspapers ran non-stop stories focusing on how all evil wizards were from the Slytherin House and how it was likely that the Slytherin older years comprised of Death Eaters or the children of Death Eaters. For about a month, a small majority of the Slytherin House walked around with their sleeves rolled up, just to show that they were untouched by Voldemort's Dark Mark. The act against the press worked for a little while until one of the ring leaders was caught as a Death Eater over the holidays.

Both Severus and Remus encouraged the Slytherin students to join, claiming that it would help support their anti-Death Eater claims. None of the students listened to them.

"Why do you think it's that awkward?" Hermione asked Harry, eyeing the two professors. Remus had an arm wrapped around his own stomach, facing slightly away from Severus. The potions master was standing in the same angled position but with his hands in his pockets.

"I don't know. They're never normally like this. I mean, it's not like they're out for each other's blood anymore," Harry responded, his own eyes travelling over the two.

Ron cocked his head to one side. "Maybe something completely embarrassing happened. At least, I hope it did. Could you imagine how good it would be if Remus walked in on Snape?"

"Doing what, Ron?" Hermione questioned.

Harry could hear a certain tone of disapproval in her voice.

"Maybe he's having an affair with a student."

"That's just wrong, mate," Harry snickered. "I don't think anyone's _that_ desperate. I mean, sure, maybe for grades, but I'd rather change subjects."

Ron laughed at that. "Yeah, I suppose. Maybe something else happened..."

"That's obvious," Hermione pointed out. "I don't think they'd be like this without some kind of prompting. I'm just curious as to what it was."

The redhead agreed with the curiosity. "As Moony's closest friends, it's our duty to be concerned over these sorts of things."

"Maybe it's the other way around," Harry jested. "Maybe it's Moony having the affair."

"He'd tell us for sure."

"It could get him fired, Ron. I don't think he'd tell us something like that."

Ron sighed heavily. "Well, it can't be that option. Snape would snitch on him straight away, just to get him out of the castle and into his position."

"Agreed."

Hermione turned around to look at the students around them. It was roughly time to start the class. Today was one of those one-a-month Royal Rumbles, so there were more students than usual. Everyone wanted a chance to get in on the win, and with the extra healing spells they had learnt the week before, teaming would be possible.

She was quick to rally them up, setting out the rules for all those who didn't know what they were. Basically, no spells outside what they had learnt in the DA classes and you couldn't continue the fight once successfully hit with a hex. There was to be no returning to the match after a recovery, either.

As usual, the three of them were to sit out during this battle. The presence of Remus and Severus had several of the students worried, though.

"And don't worry, they're only here to watch," Hermione added, waving a dismissive hand at the two professors. Remus had to stifle his laughter at the glare Severus sent the brunette. He wasn't, by any stretch, impressed at the dismissal.

Harry blew the tiny whistle he had and the match started.

-

Draco couldn't have been any happier for the loss of the Slytherin students. The rooms were still set up as if they had the normal amount of students attending, so several of the rooms started off unoccupied. Now, several months into the year, each of the sixth and seventh year students had taken a room to themselves. The lower levels only had to share with one other person, rather that three or four.

And now that Draco had openly defied his father, a room to his own was a must.

It also gave him freedom with Scorpius if the younger Malfoy ever wanted to randomly visit him.

Scorpius, however, was quickly becoming the least of his worries. The glares he received from his classmates had him worrying for his life (not to be too overdramatic or anything, but it was the truth. They could have killed him for what he had done and no one would be there to help him).

He sighed out loud as he twiddled his quill in his fingers. He was giving up his parents and his rank within society for this boy.

The sigh quickly turned into a groan.

His life as a Malfoy was over. There was nothing he could do about it, either.

Everything he knew was over.

Trying to take his mind off that, Draco delved back into the world of his homework. It had taken him forever to get a sentence written down onto his Transfiguration essay, and then even longer to actually understand what he had written. The essay had been assigned the Monday after he had met Scorpius. It was due the upcoming Monday. It was quite tempting to just slam his head against the desk and leave it at that. He didn't want anything to do with school or his parents or the war. It was enough. He had reached his limit.

He lowered his quill to massage at his deltoids. The muscles of his neck and shoulders were cramped with stress.

Draco jolted as the door to his room opened, slamming against the wall as it turned one-hundred and eighty degrees on its hinges. He turned sharply, nearly choking on his tongue as he saw a highly pissed off Pansy Parkinson standing in the doorway.

"Draco Hyperion Malfoy!" she screeched, storming over to where Draco was sitting. "Theodore just told me what you said to your father."

He wasn't surprised as a hand smacked him upside his head. "Pansy..."

They had never been really close. They only interaction between them was because of their families. She, however, always saw it necessary to literally knock him back into place. It seemed as if she felt it to be her own responsibility, as if she was actually a part of his life.

"No! How dare you do that to your father? Do you have any idea how much your family is going to suffer for this?"

Draco ran a hand through the longer strands of his hair. "Pansy, whatever decision I've chosen is solely up to me. It had nothing to do with you."

"I have it on good authority that I was your chosen fiancée..."

That had him standing to get away from her.

"Hell no," he hissed, taking steps back away from the girl. "That's not going to happen."

"Damn right it's not," Pansy continued. "My parents have already told me that I'm not allowed to have anything to do with you, just in case your insanity spreads. They said that the Dark Lord will give you one chance to redeem yourself..."

Draco scoffed at that. "You can't be serious. Even if I do go back to doing everything my father orders of me, it'll be different. I want to choose my own future, and I certainly don't want to be married to you."

"Draco..."

"No. I'm not going back to that life. I'm looking forward to living and loving the way I want to."

She glared at him, stepping back towards the door. "What's wrong with you? Did you change your personality with a Gyff or something? What you're doing goes beyond insanity."

"Get out of here, Pansy. That _is_ what your parents would want of you, isn't it?"

Her glare intensified as she reached the doorway. "You're doing the wrong thing. The Dark Lord is going to win this war. You'll be killed just like all the other blood traitors."

As much as he'd hate to deny it, he collapsed onto the bed the moment she closed the door. He was a doomed man, no matter which way he looked at it. Scorpius told him he died in the future he just prematurely chose, and the Death Eaters would want nothing more than his death. Draco Malfoy was too submersed in the Death Eater world to be so easily let go.

He turned onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow. He was doomed.

"Damnit, Scorp," he grumbled. "You better be worth this."

-

Severus would never have admitted it, but he was genuinely surprised with how talented the DA had become. He was especially impressed by the Weasley girl and her amazing ability. She was a lot more powerful than most other teens he had seen. Hell, she had a few tricks up her sleeve that he hadn't seen in a fully grown adult.

And Longbottom had gotten a lot stronger, too. It actually ended up being a battle between the two of them. Whilst her spells were a lot stronger than his, he was talented in protection spells. He could easily conjure a shield to protect him from whatever it was that she threw at him.

It was, though, a matter of time before Weasley would throw at him a stronger hex, breaking through the barriers he could create.

When it did come, a loud cheer erupted from the females in the room. Wounds had already been tended to, following the previous lesson.

He was a man of a hard stomach, but seeing the changes in the students made his insides curl. They had improved for the sake of war. It wasn't as if they were duelling for fun. The base reason was so that they were prepared to protect themselves and even take the lives of the enemies. These students, none any older than eighteen and some as young as twelve, were training to be active participants in the destruction of their childhood.

There were two in particular who had missed out on a childhood completely. Potter and Longbottom had lost their innocence to the war because of the position their parents had been in. And now, they were allowing several others to follow in their footsteps. What made it worse was that the adults-their teachers-were supporting them...

"Anything wrong?" Remus asked, looking up from Severus' shoulder. Severus turned his head away.

"Of course not."

A smile found the lips of the werewolf. "I'm worried about them, too."

"You must be insane if you think that's what I'm thinking."

Remus sighed heavily, turning to look at Harry, who was congratulating the two finalists and informing the rest of the class of the next lesson. "I can only hope that he'll find a normal life once this is all over."

"That'll never happen," Severus told him bluntly. "He has two choices: die young by the Dark Lord's hands or to forever be the hero."

"According to Scorpius, he dies at a later age..."

"Thirty-seven. He's thirty-seven when he dies in the future. That's still young."

Remus nodded his head once. "Yes, I suppose." His eyes lingered on the boy. "He deserves a better life than the one he's been given. One day, he'll be happy. He'll understand love and what it's like to have a family. He seemed happy with Draco."

"That's impossible," Severus claimed, repeating what had been said several times over. "I can't imagine the two of them creating a family together, let alone having a friendship."

"I saw it with my own two eyes, Severus. Both Harry and Draco are that boy's fathers." Remus couldn't help but glance at Severus' face as he said that. "Maybe with help from the two Malfoys, they'll live longer together."

Severus merely 'hmphed' at that, turning away. He made his exit swiftly, wanting to be far away from the large group of Gryffindors.

Once Severus was gone, Remus let out the deep breath he had been keeping in. He felt so giddy after that. It was insane, and he was sure that this was exactly what a love-struck teenager felt like, but he couldn't help it. And to be honest, he quite liked the interesting sensation.

-

**See you all next Friday...if not sooner...**

**Reviews...?**

**Wow...I just realised how short this was...**


	5. Chapter Five: Chaos

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Well...I was so tempted to post this earlier than usual...here's a story for all those who's listening. Once upon a time, I hated fanfiction. Absolutely detested it with a passion...I wouldn't go anywhere near it. I absolutely refused it's existence in the world. It was all my older sister talked about. The first time I gave in to my sister's begging, due to her non-stop coughing of 'Landon' under her breath, I read a story called 'Palace of the Wolves' by Daphne Li. I loved it. And it's because of this fic that I even considered writing. She inspired my first ever fic (which will remain unknown for various reasons) with her CCS/HP crossover, 'Hogwarts, Sakura Style'. Twas my first taste of Harry Potter fanfiction.**

**Why is this relevant? Because she nearly got me fired from work after my second week there when I read my emails (which I'm not meant to do...) to see that she had added WTIE to her story alert list...I screamed, fell off my chair and went into shock. I called up my sister, screamed again and didn't stop shaking until I had gone for a walk...**

**So it was only by a huge amount of self control that I didn't post this early...**

**That, and I called up the H & D Potter residence, only to get a little boy called James pick up the phone...I nearly cried...MBUS anyone...?? It was classical...!**

**Duchess of The Twilight: Yeah, I gave Draco that middle name...and I just love writing Remus that way...**

**Glow: I tried not to make fillers...! T-T But this chapter is better!!**

**AnGeL's DrEaM: Your name...too many ups and downs...I write too quickly to be bothered with the changes...**

**-**

**Chapter Five: Chaos, Greek Goddess of Emptiness and Confusion**

-

_Papa never got over Dad. No matter how many times Aunt Hermione tried setting him up with another man or woman, Papa never went on the dates. He never went out and he never brought anyone home. Aunt Hermione would tell him that all the pent-up frustration would kill him._

_He wouldn't enter anything other than friendly relationships. Whenever Aunt Hermione brought a person around for lunch (without any prior knowledge of this), my papa would tell the person straight that he only wanted friendship, if that._

_I was thirteen when I caught him. I was supposed to be at Aunt Hermione's, but Rose had gotten sick, so she had sent me home. He was lying on his side with his back to the door. I came in to bid him a goodnight, but he was shaking, sobbing, pleading for my dad to forgive him. When I crawled into the bed next to him, he tried to push me away. When my arm wrapped around his middle, I found out why._

_The very essence that partly created me was over his hand and on the mattress. _

_His pleadings soon included my forgiveness. _

_I told him that there was nothing wrong with it. He needed my dad just as much as he did when he was alive. _

_Papa told me that he was disgusting for dirtying the memory of my dad the way that he did. _

_I didn't see it that way._

_I found it beautiful that he still wanted to make love to my dad only._

-

It was getting colder and colder by the day. As they passed, Harry found himself craving to be close to Scorpius, often eating his meals in the boy's room with him. It seemed that Malfoy was doing the same every second day or so. Once or twice, both seventeen-year-olds ended up eating with Scorpius, which he found hilarious. He told them that he had heard of their rivalry, but it never seemed to pop up when he was near them. He supposed that was a good start for his parent's relationship. They could now be near each other without trying to kill each other, and that was always a bonus, no matter how you looked at it.

To Harry, his sexuality was pretty much confirmed. He was gay. Completely and utterly attracted to males. Well, Malfoy to be precise.

Yes, Harry Potter was physically attracted to Draco Malfoy, his sworn enemy. And it was proven each time they looked at each other. Spending those lunches together made it obvious.

He was stupidly having these thoughts throughout his classes. Specifically in Charms, since the training boosted his ability with his wand. He could concentrate easily now, working his wand as if it was an extension of his own self. The spells came out without much thought, leaving him completely bored in the class. Apparently it was happening to most members of the DA.

But yes, the thoughts. He was having them constantly. He was inexperienced in homosexual matters (and still very much in heterosexual ones at that), but his dreams filled him with images he shouldn't have. Malfoy could not possibly look that good flushed an on his back staring up at Harry. Good was an understatement. He looked beyond delicious in those dreams.

In desperate need of a distraction, Harry looked to Ron and Hermione. Their relationship had been growing steadily. What few fights they had seemed nothing more than the bickering of a married couple. They seemed happy. Surprisingly, though, nothing had happened between them. It appeared as if they were still just friends. That, of course, meant that they were 'just friends' with ample sexual tension between the two of them. Harry sighed and shook his head. The two of them really needed to move up a further level and make things official. Every time the twins wrote to Ron (which was once a week now, just to piss him off), they asked whether if the two were together or not.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted. The floor shook and the sound of an explosion resounded around them.

"What the hell was that?" Ron asked, steadying himself.

"Sounded like it came from underneath us," Hermione claimed. She then felt her face burn as she realised she had grabbed on to Ron to stop herself from falling over.

"Shit," Harry suddenly hissed, heading towards the closest staircase. "Scorpius is down in the dungeons."

-

Draco stumbled as the stone floor beneath him shuddered. He was with the Headmaster, hearing about his options now that he had rejected his father.

"Scorpius," he gasped, turning towards the door without a dismissal from Dumbledore.

The old man would have given it, anyway. He had seen how the blonde Slytherin had changed over the weeks since Scorpius literally dropped into their lives.

-

Harry was the first at the scene. The door had been blown off its hinges and white smoke billowed from the room. Summoning a gust of wind, Harry pushed clean air into the room, where he could hear strangled coughs.

"Scorpius?" he asked, trying to find the kid.

Strangely enough, Scorpius was standing in front of an exploded cauldron with little more than dust on his shoulders.

"Harry?"

"What the hell happened here?" Harry stepped over the charred remains of a chair to reach the blonde.

"I mixed something I shouldn't have," Scorpius vaguely informed him. He examined what was left of the cauldron and the table, which were quickly assimilating each other. "That could be a bad reaction..."

He stopped when Harry hit him upside the head, only to recoil as the barrier he had placed around him reacted. Harry glared at whatever it was that he came in contact with, holding his hand close to his chest.

"And who did that to you?"

The blonde grinned sheepishly. "Well, when I told Uncle Sev that this was my first time attempting this potion, he cast a little barrier around me...he must have known that this would have happened."

"Get him to take it down so I can properly hit you."

Green eyes twinkled, almost with delight at Harry's words. "He's not here..."

"I don't care! I'll do it, then!" Harry sighed with frustration. "How can you, such a brilliant kid, do something this stupid? And Snape should have known better than to have let you go through with it, especially if he knew beforehand that it was this dangerous!"

Lips turned into a pout. "Fine. Don't ask if I'm alright."

Harry paused. "...Are you hurt?"

"No, thank you."

"Good." And with that, Harry removed the barrier and smacked him on the head again. "You raving lunatic!"

"You're not being fair," Scorpius argued. "I just wanted to help..."

"By blowing yourself up? Stupid idea! You can't very well do much when you're a pile of pulp. I don't think I could name anyone stupid enough to _rock the whole castle_ with a potions mistake!"

A smile returned to Scorpius' face. "I rocked the castle? That's a new record or something..." Another swipe to the head caught the boy again. "That's child abuse, you know?" Thinking back to his childhood, he rarely remembered such a look of sorrow on his papa's face. "What-what's wrong?"

Harry shook himself out of it.

"It's nothing."

Just to prove it, he struck Scorpius again, though much lighter than before.

"So...no more lecture?"

"What happened?" Hermione gasped from the doorway.

Ron had arrived with her, but was standing in shock. His eyes were focused on the young Malfoy, who was being brushed down by a duster Harry had summoned.

"He's identical to him..." Ron pointed out, causing Hermione to send him a weak glare.

"That's not important right now, Ronald," she sighed, moving forward to the blonde. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Scorpius looked up at Harry with a disapproving look. "See? She can do it properly." His eyes returned to Hermione's face. "He didn't ask until after the lecture. I'm just fine, thank you."

Harry rolled his eyes before he made his duster smother Scorpius for a second.

"Harry," Hermione chided. "I'm Hermione Granger. You must be Scorpius..."

"I'm guessing Harry's been talking about me. I'm not surprised. Dad always said that the Golden Trio was inseparable," Scorpius smiled pleasantly. "You're in my life a lot, actually. You and my papa are close."

"Really?" Hermione scooted closer to the child.

"Yes. I don't think he would have made it all those years without my dad if it weren't for you. You're very important to everyone in my family. Hell, even Dad starts to think of you as a friend. You were there for the wedding...you're actually my godmother."

That surprised them. "Wow. That's strange," Harry admitted, finishing off the dusting. "Is your papa a Gryffindor or something?"

Scorpius scoffed. "Could you imagine my dad's reaction to the thought of marrying a Gryffindor?"

"Right..."

"Aunt Hermione and Dad worked together in my time. Well, they did before Aunt Hermione fell pregnant."

"I have a baby?" Hermione questioned.

"I can't tell you any more than that..."

"He always stops at the good part," Harry told Hermione simply as he got to work on cleaning up the rest of the mess the boy had made. "Are you gonna help with this?"

Scorpius shook his head with a bright smile. "Nope. I can't. I can't do that much magic."

Harry rolled his eyes before he pointed his wand at the deformed creation that was Scorpius' cauldron.

"Snape is going to chew your arse up for this."

"I'm his favourite. He won't."

Ron scoffed this time. "Malfoy's his favourite, mate. You might be his kid, but you're not him."

"I'm just as good as Dad, if not better. I made it here after making adjustments to the potion he created..."

The redhead was pushed out of the way as Severus entered the room. He took one look around before he narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. "I can't believe you!" he snapped, stepping towards the youth. "Of all the stupid, idiotic things to do, you bloody well mixed the bicorn parts with the graphorn parts without boiling the bicorn first! Are you completely insipid?"

"I didn't mean to...I accidentally boiled the graphorn instead..."

"Idiot!"

Scorpius pouted. "If my dad made this mistake, you wouldn't be this pissed off."

"Your dad isn't stupid enough to make this mistake," Severus sighed heavily. With a simple wave of his wand and a soft mutter under his breath, the room was completely tidied.

"I need to learn that one," Harry murmured.

"And what do you lot think you're doing here?" Severus demanded, turning around to glare at Harry. "If you're caught down here, in the middle of this mess, we'd have a lot of explaining to do. We could have easily have passed this off to being one of Draco's mistakes, but no one would be stupid enough to believe that you were here for Draco's well-being."

Harry pointed at Scorpius. "I was making sure he was alright. It's not every day an explosion comes from the dungeons..."

"There were plenty over the years, Potter. Longbottom made sure we were in constant supply of them."

"And anyway, you're just as much to blame for all of this." He heard Hermione's sharp intake of air, but ignored it. "If you knew it was this damn dangerous, why'd you let him try it? He could have exploded into several pieces, but you let him go through with it!"

"Do _not_ raise your voice at me," Severus threatened. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. Push it anymore and it'll be detention for a _month_."

Harry moved to argue with the punishment, but stopped as Scorpius grabbed his arm. "Please don't," he pleaded softly. "This is my fault anyway."

The brunette said nothing to that but grabbed Scorpius into his arms. "I'm just glad that you're okay. I don't know why I yelled at you that way..."

His words were interrupted by Malfoy's demanding voice. "What the hell are you doing to my son, Potter?"

Harry just about jumped away from Scorpius before he turned around to glare at the short blonde. "I am doing what you failed to do, Malfoy. You're not really being a good father, letting him blow up like that, you know?"

Malfoy returned the glare, which would always be a little bit more potent than Harry's own. "I was preoccupied..."

"Too preoccupied to care that your child was down here?"

Arms folded over a small chest. "I do not have to explain myself to you."

"Maybe not to me, but Scorpius sure deserves an answer as to why you were too busy to be here for him."

Grey eyes landed on Scorpius, who was grinning slightly. "What are you so entertained over?" he barked.

"I'm just finding this really funny. You had given me the lecture of my life and now he's giving you one," Scorpius explained innocently. He couldn't help but smile wider as his dad turned to his papa, frowning.

"You chided him?"

"You weren't here," Harry offered lightly.

"He is _my_ child. Not yours. It isn't your place to lecture him about anything. Play parent to some other kid. This one's mine."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the way Malfoy said that. "Yeah, I'll go pick up some child from an orphanage and start that way. I'm sure that'll work just fine."

"Knock up your Weaselette for all I care," Malfoy hissed before a smirk blossomed on his lips. "Oh, that's right. You don't swing that way anymore." Both pairs of green eyes widened, causing Malfoy more glee. "You're not out of the closet yet? Scorpius told me all about it. You marry a man and every..."

"Dad," Scorpius groaned, grabbing his dad's arm weakly. "These things weren't meant to be talked about...and it was up to him if he wanted to tell _everyone_ that."

Malfoy merely rolled his eyes.

"Harry?" Ron asked softly.

"Later, please, Ron," Harry breathed, glaring as hard as he possibly could at the older blonde. His eyes softened as he looked at Scorpius. "So you're okay?'

"Yeah," Scorpius breathed, sensing the tension in the room. He felt his stomach turn slightly.

"Are you sure?" Malfoy asked, quickly pushing the hair from Scorpius' eyes. His hand skimmed Scorpius' forehead before settling.

Harry, despite his current distaste for the older Malfoy, couldn't help but want to be there.

"I don't know. My stomach just suddenly..."

"Could it be the potion?" That was directed towards Severus.

"I've never heard of that side effect with this one before," Severus objected.

As the two questioned what it was that was wrong with Scorpius, Hermione started to move the two male Gryffindors from the room. Ron went without a question, but Harry was much harder to remove. He was by Scorpius' side before Hermione had a chance to grab his arm to pull him back. Malfoy didn't seem to worry about it, though.

It was only after their hands brushed that they even seemed to notice that the two of them had started to fawn over the boy.

After their nervous jolt, Scorpius' stomach returned to normal.

-

It took Hermione and Ron a while to coax Harry away from the two Malfoys, but when they managed it, they had a lot of questions to ask.

"What the _hell_ was with you and Malfoy?" Ron demanded, pushing Harry into a sitting position on his bed. Hermione shooed away the other boys from the room.

"I don't know, Ron. It's not the first time it's happened. It's like Malfoy _isn't_ Malfoy when we're in the same room as Scorpius. Things just change between the two of us," Harry tried to explain.

Ron fell back onto his own bed. "And what did Malfoy mean about you not being straight?" Harry didn't answer. "Why didn't you tell us?" Blue eyes dodged to Hermione. "And why aren't you asking about this?"

"Ginny told you, didn't she?" Harry asked Hermione softly.

Silence fell upon the trio as Hermione sat next to Harry. She pulled him into her arms without a second thought. "You really are an idiot, you know that?" Regardless, she held him close to her. "Wizards don't care for sexuality. Homosexuals in the wizarding world are given everything homosexuals in the Muggle world aren't."

Harry hid his face in her shoulder. "I've just never been too sure of it..."

"So you are gay?" Ron questioned. He felt a smile reach his face as he saw Harry nod his head. "Mate, it's no big deal. At least now we know it wasn't Ginny and that there's still a chance that she can be attractive to _some_ guy."

"Ronald," Hermione chided instantly. "Harry, we love you, no matter what."

"But come on," Ron scoffed. "Surely you could have chosen a bit better than Malfoy..."

"There's nothing going on between me and Malfoy," Harry responded instantly, despite his red face. "He's still an arse and we still hate each other. Just because I feel the need to baby his kid doesn't mean that we're interested in each other."

Hermione grinned. "I have to admit, though, that you couldn't have appreciated a better looking guy. Malfoy has that going for him."

His face burned further.

"You've got to be kidding me, Hermione," Ron objected, smiling all the while.

"Have you seen him lately, Ron? He is one handsome young man."

"Too bad he's a jackass."

"Suppose," Hermione agreed before hugging Harry tightly again. "You don't have to worry about these things, Harry. We're always here for you."

-

Draco had been given privileges by Dumbledore that suited his and Scorpius' needs perfectly. Although he didn't have an Invisibility Cloak, he was free to walk the castle at any point, regardless to the curfew placed upon all other students.

Scorpius had explained to Draco that Draco had been the one to mother him the most. Whenever he scraped his knee when he tripped over or fell ill, it was Draco would who hold him tightly and tell him it was okay.

"I really miss him," Scorpius admitted, rolling onto his side as Draco carefully tucked him into bed. He couldn't help but ask this of his dad since it was an experience he hadn't had for ten years.

"I wish I knew who he is," Draco smiled, smoothing back his son's hair gently. He pressed a simple kiss to Scorpius' forehead and cuddled him. "You can't give me a hint or anything?"

The taller blonde shook his head. "Uncle Sev would get really angry at me, and I want to be born if everything turns out alright."

"I promise I won't tell him."

Scorpius laughed softly. "You know, I was always shocked with how the two of you treated me. It was as if I was your everything."

"You are," Draco whispered.

The laughter got louder. "You're so maternal."

With a look of mock-hurt, Draco pulled away from his son. "I'm purely paternal. There is nothing feminine about me. I'm a male, Scorpius."

With a big yawn, Scorpius turned to his side, facing away from his dad. "Good night."

Draco had noticed it before, but when Scorpius decided he was ready for sleep, he was out like a light the moment he turned to his left. And there was no waking him until he got at least eight hours of sleep. They had tried everything to wake the boy, but nothing worked.

He smoothed back his son's hair before pressing a goodnight kiss to his forehead and left for the Slytherin common room. The moment he opened the door out of the room, he jolted with shock.

The door smacked straight into something else that was behind it.

"Holy shit, Malfoy," Potter's voice came from the blank spot before him. Draco closed the door, mindful of his sleeping son behind him.

With a glare, Draco grabbed at the void until he came in contact with the Invisibility Cloak Draco knew would be there and tore the piece of material. Potter was quickly revealed, dishevelled, holding a hand up to his face where the door had connected with him.

Draco found himself staring. The brunette boy's hair was messier than usual, having had the Cloak dragged over it from behind, his glasses were askew and he had discarded his school robes for a casual tee and jeans.

Potter's hand slipped down from his now red nose as he fixed up his glasses, setting them back in place. Draco was barely aware of those green eyes staring at him. It was only when Potter raised an eyebrow at him that he snapped back to reality.

"Scorpius is sleeping, plebeian," Draco hissed, returning to the Malfoy the Potter boy knew.

"I just wanted to check up on him-make sure there were no ill effects from the explosion."

"He's fine."

Harry just about felt his stomach flip at the casual drawl Malfoy was using. It was the same expression and tone as usual, but there was just something about it lately that 'interested' him. Remembering his conversation with his best friends, he tried his hardest not to blush.

He lost the battle when he saw the way grey eyes were sauntering over his face, taking in every detail. Harry's entire face burned and from the blonde's smirk, he knew that the Slytherin had noticed.

Harry's breath caught in his throat as Draco raised a hand up to Harry's own lips. The fingertips barely caressed the bottom, thumbing a place that stung cruelly.

"Looks like I got you," Draco murmured softly, trailing the upper lip now.

"It's okay-nothing I can't fix." Harry found himself whispering the response and couldn't resist making contact with a delicate fingertip with his tongue in the briefest touch. He was rewarded with a sharp gasp.

Draco didn't seem to mind that, stepping closer. The fingertips moved onto Harry's cheek before threading through his dark hair. Harry's own hand found the hem of Draco's shirt, needing something of the blonde's to touch.

"It wasn't an apology."

Draco was in the same trance Harry had been put under.

Craving more physicality between them, Harry stepped forward also.

"Arsehole," Harry responded, not caring for the words between them. They were far away from reality, from where being this close wasn't accepted. Neither cared for that world at that moment. All either wanted to do was to eliminate the space between them.

Harry's hand came up to wrap around Draco's wrist, wanting to touch after feeling Draco's fingers threading through his hair, across his jaw, down his neck...

The moment Harry's Seeker-trained fingers closed around Draco's wrist, his entire hand tingled.

Draco's wrist reacted the same way and that terrified him, bringing him out of the revere he had been in. "Let go of me before I deduct points, Potter," he snapped, stepping back away from Harry's body. "And stay the hell away from me."

And with that, he ran. He left Harry behind, heading away from the common rooms.

Needless to say, Harry was confused. Taking Malfoy's word for it, he abandoned his quest to confirm Scorpius' safety and instead headed straight to bed. He barely remembered the throw the Invisibility Cloak back on.

-

Draco couldn't explain it. He had never experienced anything that powerful before. He wasn't sure if Potter's magic was out of control or if it was the physical attraction between the two of them.

Denial wasn't an option when Potter's lure was concerned. The Boy-Who-Lived had plenty of sex appeal, and Draco had never denied it before. His last boyfriend had been a Durmstrang boy who had admitted to enjoying the thought of the three of them together. Draco couldn't help but lick his lips as that suggestion was made. Yes, Potter might have been the thorn in his side, but damnit, he was one hell of a sexy thorn.

He had everything Draco liked. There were very few things that stopped him from wrapping himself around the brunette and begging him to do to him whatever it was he wanted to do.

Yes. That idea appealed to him very nicely.

"I need a cold shower," he breathed to himself, staring up at his ceiling. His body was highly aware of Potter's appeal and had reacted in kind. It casually ignored the negatives about the boy.

He thought back to that touch and how it felt. It was nearing better than sex.

His body was getting tighter and tighter as the thoughts continued.

Draco groaned as he looked down on himself.

"I did _not_ just do that," he muttered. "Go back down, you bastard."

Of course, being the lively teen that he was, his body didn't listen to him. Instead, he whipped out his wand to ensure all privacy measures were taken before he reached down to deal with the problem.

-

Harry washed his hand. It still tingled from that single touch, and from Malfoy's reaction, he was quite certain the other boy had felt it as well. The power between them was only strengthened by their animosity. Maybe something physical was beginning to form between the two of them but there wasn't much he could do about that. In fact, he wasn't willing to change it. He was quite content with the time he shared with Malfoy.

He found himself constantly reminding himself as to whom and what Malfoy was. He would have been a murderer if it wasn't for Scorpius' intervention.

They were two complete opposites, and if that wasn't enough, the blonde had a kid. For the time being, he was a single father, dealing with a child only two years younger than him.

"It doesn't get much more screwed up," Harry groaned to himself as he looked up at his face in the mirror. His hand still fizzled with the memory and his lip had started to swell. He did away with the cut with a simple spell before he decided on a shower. He wanted the tingling to stop. The more Harry relished the sensation, the more he thought about Malfoy. And the more he thought about that young man, the more cold water he'd had to put into the shower.

The attraction was starting to get out of hand, but he still wouldn't change it for the world. It was a twisted thing, but it felt more than normal. And that just screwed up his head even more.

When he entered the shower, the water was perfect.

As it proceeded, it quickly lost all heat as Harry tried to cool down his raging teenage body.

"You bastard," he grumbled, resting his forearms against the shower wall, directing the words towards a certain part of his anatomy. "One touch from him and..."

Harry abruptly halted his words when he realised they were doing nothing for his aching need.

He had no idea that however many floors beneath him, the blonde teen was taking the different road to deal with the same problem.

-

**Sorry it's so short again...I don't really have time to write very much these days and to hit the weekly update, these chapters have to be shorter than what I had hoped them to be...**

**Then again, the ten page quota I had for MBUS was a little insane...**

**Oh, there's a good chance chapter six will be up on Wednesday...I'm out for all of Thursday and Friday of next week, so Wednesday is the next best thing...**


	6. Chapter Six: CromCruaich

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Wow...these chapters seem to be getting smaller and smaller each time...I'm terribly sorry about that, but at least they come regularly...**

**Yay!! This'll be getting its one-hundredth review with this chapter...! Unless I get only two reviews...much like Fev on the weekend, ne?? GO BUDDY!!...anyway...**

**Ragnarok: Actually, I don't think Scorp will have a boy/girlfriend. He's not meant to be a major character, actually...more like an accelerant. **

**xDabberx: Hermione is slowly getting there...slowly but surely...**

**Jade Cade: Yeah, they got so close...! It gets closer with time. **

**-**

**Chapter Six: Crom-Cruaich, Celtic God of Sacrifice**

**-**

_I hated my school with a passion, but Papa never understood. He never listened to me when I told him about how the other kids treated me. I was an outsider. _

_We had a small group of us. We were never accepted by our peers for who we were. They were all sheep. We wanted to find ourselves without the pressure of popularity. _

_And for those reasons, I was hated by the majority of the school._

_That never affected my schooling, but my grades were always poor in every subject I ever took. The only one I ever did above average in was home economics, where I got to cook. Muggle cooking is just the same as potions brewing. That class was more than easy for me._

_But I hated school life. I was surrounded by Muggles who each had a mother and a father somewhere. Whether or not those parents were still together was irrelevant. Some had lost one of their parents to death, just like I had, but no one else had two fathers. No one had two mothers. _

_I didn't belong there and everything I learnt wasn't worth it. I failed to see how trigonometry would help me win a duel against a Death Eater. Papa wouldn't listen, though. If I was at a Muggle school, I was far away from the Death Eaters. I would forever stay in my papa's life. I wouldn't leave him like Dad and Lily did. _

_After listening to Rose and Hugo talk about their fears over the OWLs, I left. I couldn't take it anymore. Ordinary Muggle exams weren't worth it. I told the teachers that I was leaving and that I wasn't coming back._

_They called Papa to ask him about it. He told them that I couldn't just drop out. I argued the case. We yelled at each other until I threatened to leave him. I told him I would go live with Uncle Sev or I'd live on the streets of Diagon Alley. _

_I had never seen him go so white before._

_He agreed that I could leave that worthless school, but he was beyond angry with me._

_It wasn't until he was gone that I realised that he wasn't angry; he was scared. He was scared of losing me. _

-

He knew what he had done, the life he had chosen. He was now the enemy of so many he once considered comrades.

"Why the hell would you do something like that?" Blaise hissed, cornering Draco on his way out of the library.

Draco had been expecting this for a while.

"It doesn't affect you, Blaise," Draco responded weakly. Blaise had been one of the few people he didn't want to fight with.

"Doesn't affect me? Draco, the Dark Lord has ordered my marriage to Pansy before the year is over. She was yours. We grew up knowing that. You had so long to prepare for it and I've got a little over a few weeks..."

"Join me then," Draco offered. The thought of losing Blaise the way Scorp described it was too painful.

"Are you insane? Your parents are lucky they've been untouched these past few days. _You're_ lucky he hasn't ordered any of us..."

"Change sides, Blaise. For your own safety, please."

The dark skinned boy froze at Draco's plea.

"What do you know?"

Draco had to remind himself how deeply involved Blaise was before he revealed Scorpius' existence. The moment the Dark Lord discovered that child, it would be over for him. He was too talented to not be wanted by Voldemort.

"I can't tell you, but you have to trust me..."

The taller teen cut off Draco's words by stepping closer to him.

"I can't trust someone who won't talk to me."

"Blaise..."

"Maybe that's why we never worked out," Blaise mused, pressing closer to the blonde. "You were so horrible with communicating with me. You never told me what you wanted unless it was sex. You were the perfect little Malfoy with that. Every time you wanted something to make you feel better, you'd go out and get it, but when it was really important to the other person, it could have waited."

"You're not being fair with this."

"Whether or not I'm being fair isn't the issue at the moment. What do you know?"

Draco shook his head. Thinking about it hurt. "I _can't_ tell you."

The blonde jumped as he felt a pair of hands descend to his hips. "Don't do this, Blaise, please," Draco whispered, knowing exactly what was following. His attempts to push the stronger boy failed as a pair of lips covered his own.

His grey eyes stayed open the whole time, thoughts hitting him at speeds reaching thousands of kilometres at a time. The fire that was there only a few months before was completely nullified. There was nothing there. Even though it was a kiss, there was nothing behind it. Nothing at all like Potter's single touch...

And it made him sick. Just the thought of kissing someone who couldn't possibly be Scorpius' father stung him to his stomach and back, urging the bile to rise.

The only thing he could do was bite down, drawing blood from the other teen.

"Shit, Draco," Blaise snapped, pulling right back. "Does Dumbledore have you under something? Is that why this is happening?"

"I wish," Draco breathed, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. He needed to get that disgusting sensation off his lips to push the sickening feeling back down. "You and your mother need to stay away from the Dark Lord. That's all I can tell you."

A hand reached out, wrapping tightly around Draco's upper arm. Again, it lacked what Potter had given him.

"Are you threatening my mother?"

Before Draco could answer, a third voice joined them. "Did he?"

Both pairs of eyes darted up to see Theodore Nott approaching them, his wand spinning across his fingers like a well-practiced drummer in a band.

"Theo," Blaise acknowledged before returning his hard eyes to Draco's face.

"It wasn't a threat and you know that," claimed Draco, standing proud.

Theo chuckled cruelly, reaching out for Draco's chin. Despite his struggle, he was caught between perhaps the two strongest wizards in the Slytherin house. Taking the lead, Theo slammed Draco back against the hard stone wall, smirking as he heard the blonde express slight pain. "It sounded like a threat to me, dear Draco. Who knows where that kind of talk will land you?"

This time, Blaise turned to object with the slightly taller teen. "That's not necessary...I had this."

"Your mother deserves better than threats from this _traitor_. Us Slytherins mightn't be recognised for our loyalty, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. We stick together. He broke those rules and has doomed us all."

"You're overreacting, Theo."

The tanned boy glared at Blaise this time, loosening his hold from the collar of Draco's shirt. "Piss off, Zabini. If you aren't man enough to deal with him, I'll do it on my own."

"Deal with...? What do you mean? Did the Dark Lord contact you?"

"No, but it's about time he got what he asked for. He wanted to end his life with the Death Eaters? That's simple since that's all he's ever known. His life might as well be taken."

Draco's eyes widened at the words. Theo was supposed to be one of his friends. They had spent many years in close quarters with each other, seeming more like brothers than mere classmates. Theo had spent more than one summer at the Malfoy Manor, and Draco had always been there for him whenever his father's affairs were made public. The same with Blaise; the boy was always welcome at the Manor whenever some new man was courting his mother shamelessly and he needed to get away from it all.

And yet, here they were, discussing his death in front of him as if their friendship meant nothing-as if his _life_ meant nothing.

"Get lost, Blaise. You're not going to be able to stomach the sight of him when I'm through with my justice."

With little more than a worried look towards Draco, the dark skinned boy turned and left the taller teen with Draco.

Grey eyes focused on the brunette teen as Theodore took a step forward. He pocketed his wand, sneering at the blonde.

"Theo, what are you doing?" Draco's voice was a firm as it could possibly be. He tried as hard as he could to keep the tone light.

Not expecting it, Draco couldn't duck the fist aimed at his upper left cheek. It connected with a sickening crack and Draco fell back against the wall, slipping down to the stone floor. The force knocked him dizzy but he didn't have time to find his bearings. Theo grabbed him by his collar again and pulled him up to his height again.

"You're destroyed us all," Theo hissed at him, trapping his body in tightly against the wall. Pressing hip to hip, almost intimately, Theo started to growl out his angered words. "You were meant to be _our_ Potter." There was a blow to his belly. "_Our _saviour." A knee rose up into Draco's groin. "If you played your part, we'd all be safe-none of us would be important to _him_." Hands pulled Draco's head down just as the knee rose again, smashing his nose. "We all relied on you to do this but you were too damned selfish to save anyone but yourself."

He threw Draco's thoroughly beaten body onto the ground and straddled him. The first thing he did was disgracefully slap the blonde. Theo sat and watched Draco's struggle to get his breath. Blood had seeped down his throat from where his nose was broken. At the same time, he tried to fight back, but the stronger teen pinned down his wrists, spitting on his face.

"You've condemned us all. You can't just walk away the way you did. We were all relying on your like they're all relying on bloody Saint Potter." Theo lowered his head to Draco's heaving chest. "We're all dead because of you. He's going to make us fight against the Light. You were supposed to be the only one he cared about; you were the only promised one. Only Lucius put you up on the Dark Lord's pedestal, and now we're all doomed to the life you were meant to live."

"What I did..."

"We don't want to hear your selfish excuses!" Theo objected, striking Draco across the face again, this time with a closed fist. "You're disgusting! Do you have any idea how many of us will die in this war? No, you thought only of yourself!"

Keeping Draco's wrists pinned above his head with one hand, Theo started to punch him with all he was worth. Blow after blow kept coming until Draco's face was swollen and bloody from the numerous cuts and grazes. His hair was tinged crimson and Theo's knuckles were covered in it.

"You're not even worth wasting my magic on."

Theo's entire body stiffened as he looked up having heard someone approaching. Planting his hand on Draco's face, he pushed himself up and away from the cringing blonde. A swift kick was delivered to Draco's side.

"Nott? _Malfoy_?"

Draco turned on his side, trying to hide himself from Potter's view as he walked in on them.

Theodore headed straight for the smaller brunette, grabbing Potter's chin in his hand before he had a chance to draw out his wand. The green-eyed teen gasped as he felt the warm, sticky liquid of Draco's blood coming in contact with his skin. The Slytherin smirked at him with a taunting scoff before he continued to smear Potter's face red.

"We're on to him. There's nothing you can do to stop this. He'll pay for what he's done," Nott promised before backing away, having seen the wand make its appearance.

Harry rushed over to Draco's side, kneeling by him to assess the damage.

"Piss off, Potter," Draco grumbled, "this isn't your problem."

From what Harry could see, Draco was cringing with pain and had been beaten so badly he couldn't see.

"He did one hell of a number on you," Harry observed softly, wincing as Draco tried to sit up. "Stay down. We don't know what he's done to you. Something could be broken."

"My dignity, maybe? Get away from me. I told you before."

"I'm going to see the extent of the damage..."

"I told you to leave me alone," Draco snapped, succeeding in his attempt to sit up. His breathing came out harshly, as if his lungs were too big for his chest.

Harry's wand moved over the blonde's torso. "He cracked a few ribs from what I can see. I can mend that easily..."

"And why the hell would you want to do something like that?"

For a moment, Harry found himself staring straight into the blonde's swollen eyes. "Scorpius would be worried about you," he claimed, looking away. He focused on the wand in his hand, taking in the details of the 

injuries. "Just a few scratches and bruises here." The wand rose up to Draco's face. "And your nose is completely smashed."

"I never would have guessed."

Harry went to work at stopping the bleeding, fixing up Draco's nose. When he was certain it was the same way as before, he moved on to Draco's face.

"I can't breathe," Draco told him weakly, feeling the tightness of his ribs.

Harry nodded his head, focusing his wand on the cracked bones. "I'm not too good with mending bones. I can fix it so it's comfortable, but not completely. We'll have to go to Pomfrey for that..."

"No. No Pomfrey, no professors."

"I'm not good enough to completely heal you..."

"Scorp can...I just need to get down to the dungeons and I can't do that with these ribs."

Agreeing, Harry did the best he could to mend the bones. "Why'd he do this?"

Draco took in a deep breath for the first time since the attack began. "Why do you think?" While he spoke, Harry worked on the swelling on the blonde's face.

"About yesterday night..."

"Not a word, Potter," Draco argued. "I want nothing of last night to ever happen again. I don't know what hex you put on me..."

"You hexed me, you wanker."

Draco choked on thin air. Harry was correct on that one. If he wasn't bloody, he was sure Harry would have seen him blush. He _had_ wanked over Harry before he had gone to bed.

"Any why would I hex you? I am capable of getting any man I want on my own. No magic is needed on my behalf."

"Yeah, because Nott was so taken with you," Harry scoffed. Had he been capable of glaring, Draco would have.

"I hate you, you know that, right?"

"You didn't seem to hate me last night."

"I slammed a door into your face. I can completely see how you'd think I was flirting with you."

"Shut up," Harry suggested, reducing as much of the swelling as he possibly could. He could finally see the pair of grey eyes that had really affected him the night before. "You capable of walking?"

"Yeah."

Harry stood, offering his hand to Draco, who almost refused to take it. Deciding that he wanted to feel that amazing spark again, Draco accepted the hand, feeling the fingers slip into his palm.

And just as they expected, their skin gave off that wonderful tingling.

Harry pulled Draco straight up and into his arms, despite that not being his original intention. Initially, all he wanted was to raise Draco into a vertical position. Instead, he found himself holding the blonde close to him, his hands resting on Draco's lower back, barely above his pants line.

Draco's own hands landed on Harry's chest, his fingertips just barely brushing the skin of Harry's collarbone.

"You okay?" Harry asked softly, fighting his hardest to not nuzzle into the blood stained hair that barely reached his nose.

"We can't be like this," Draco claimed, lowering his forehead to Harry's sternum. "We hate each other."

"Yes. Completely hate each other. That's probably why this feels so damn good."

"Too damn good."

Harry's hands moved, one heading up to Draco's hair whereas the other moved slightly lower.

The moment his hand lowered, though, he snapped it away. It wasn't right for him to be touching Malfoy so intimately, let alone at all. And yet, it was perfect.

"What's going on between us?" Harry questioned, rubbing his nose against Draco's temple and ear.

"I don't know. And I swear to you, I do not like it. And Scorpius...surely this bothers him."

"The fact that you're you bothers me."

The hand started to slip back down to Draco's rear. It just stayed there, resting quite easily.

Draco responded by gently nipping Harry's collarbone. It was by far the most erotic thing Harry had ever experienced.

It would have been so much better if the shorter teen hadn't been bleeding all over him, though.

Resigning himself to that fact, Harry pulled away, groaning as Draco's body tried to make up the distance between them.

"We have to get you to Scorpius so he can take care of you."

The other seemed to have forgotten the attack he had been the victim of.

-

Scorpius hit Harry the moment he opened the door to see his parents covered in blood. It wasn't anything too powerful, but it was still a hit.

"What the hell were you thinking of when you did this to him?" Scorpius instantly started to rant. "Are you insane? You beat the crap out of him and then bring him here to me? I don't believe you!"

"It wasn't him, Scorp," Draco objected, watching as his son delved into the satchel he always kept on his hip. "He stopped Theodore from killing me."

"_Stopped_? Most people would say 'save'," Harry muttered, manoeuvring his way through the death trap that was Scorpius' room. "This place is ridiculous, you know that, right?"

"Funny how you and my papa think that," Scorpius claimed, grabbing out the potion he was after. "This will stop the pain and the blood." Another potion came out. "This is for the swelling and the cuts. Got any bones that aren't what they used to be?"

"Yeah, his ribs are cracked," Harry told him. A third potion was produced.

"That'll deal with it."

Draco downed each one with ease before he pulled Scorpius into his arms. "Thanks," he breathed, finally able to do so without any pain. When he turned to face Harry, the brunette was more than happy to see that he did so with his perfect face unmarred.

"And I get no thanks?" Harry asked.

"You bloody well molested me," Draco accused. "You had your hand on my arse for who knows how long, you closet fag."

Harry's face turned bright red as Scorpius' questioning eyes found him. "You felt up my dad?"

The Gryffindor suddenly felt quite outnumbered. Two Malfoys against one Potter was not a good odd. "Well, things happen, you see..."

"Unlike you and my dad, I made it to fifteen without a single interest in another person, so I don't really see how those things happen."

Draco groaned, leaning against the far wall. "My son's a fifteen-year-old virgin. I never thought I'd see the day."

Sighing with a small smile, Harry reached out to reassure Scorpius. "I was a virgin until I was sixteen; don't listen to that whore. Hell, I had barely kissed someone when I was your age."

"I don't even know if I'm straight or gay, let alone kissed anyone," Scorpius admitted with a streak of pink crossing his nose and cheeks.

Harry laughed at that. "I didn't have that figured out until about a week ago-there's no rush in that area. You have to try a few things out first."

"Don't lie to my kid, Potter," Draco snapped, coming up to wrap his arms around his son's shoulders. "I didn't have to try anything out. I just knew I wasn't attracted to females." He smirked at Harry. "So, how much experience did you require before you figured it all out?"

"That's a little personal, Malfoy."

The blonde merely smirked. "Only the one time?"

"Stop smirking."

He laughed and Harry's stomach flipped. The other boy certainly had a wonderful smile.

"The Weaselette not all that good, eh?"

Harry couldn't hold back his own smirk. "And what...do you think you'd do any better?"

Almost instantly, Scorpius' face started to burn. He really didn't want to be there for the flirting of his parents.

Draco's arm came down from around Scorpius' shoulder as he took as step towards Harry. "Oh, I _know_ I'd be better, Potter. _Every_ man I've been with has told me how excellent I am in bed."

Scorpius covered his ears with his hands. "I didn't need to know that...didn't need to know that..."

His voice brought the two crashing back down to reality, once again caught up in whatever it was that had them by their hormones.

"Sorry," Harry coughed out, his own face as red as his Gryffindor tie.

"Yeah," Draco agreed, running a hand through his hair. "I really don't know why that keeps happening."

There wasn't really much to say to that, though Scorpius managed to look a little pleased of himself.

"I don't want you getting hurt anymore, Dad," Scorpius claimed, going on a completely different tangent to keep them talking. "Don't you know how to fight back?"

"I didn't really want to fight back, Scorp. It isn't an easy thing to suddenly go against everything you've ever known, including friends and family."

"Maybe you should go to the DA classes with Harry."

They both ignored Harry's snort.

"I would rather get beatings every day than join him and his merry band of idiots," Draco hissed.

"That _could_ be arranged, you know?" Harry asked.

"Quiet, you," Scorpius retorted. "Well, if you don't want to go to the classes, why don't you and Harry organise something together? Some physical training in return for potions tutoring as a trade wouldn't hurt. I know Harry failed potions in his last year."

Harry's eyes narrowed at Scorpius for that as Draco's smirk formed again. "There's no complaining from me on that idea," he admitted scathingly. "I'd love to beat up Malfoy with his consent."

The short blonde's smirk grew. "Maybe that's why your only attempt at sex failed horribly. I can't imagine the Weaselette would be into that."

"You're morbidly twisted, Malfoy. Why does everything come down to sex with you?"

Draco shrugged as he looked over the potion Scorpius had left to filter. "You're the one that made it sound that kinky."

"Dad," Scorpius groaned before he pulled the older teen away from the long tubes he was fiddling with.

"You know, I don't understand why you put the potions through so much. Half of these steps aren't necessary."

"I've mixed the methods with Muggle chemistry techniques. I find it increases the potency of the lower doses."

"This Muggle crap shouldn't be anywhere near such amazing potions. What we create in our cauldrons should be perfection, and I can't see how they could possibly be anything other than tainted with that Muggle..."

He paused when he saw the look on Scorpius' face. "I have Muggle blood in me. My grandmother was Muggle born."

Draco stepped forward to pull Scorpius into his arms, but was stopped as Harry's arms got to him first. Harry was quick to pull the blonde teen to his chest, locking his chin onto Scorpius' shoulder from behind him.

"There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm sure your papa sees it that way. You'd have to be perfect in his mind."

"Hey, he's perfect in his dad's mind, as well," Draco argued, grabbing on Scorpius' arm to drag him away from the brunette. "_My_ kid, Potter, not yours."

"Yeah? Well, unlike you, I don't want him to feel bad about himself."

Draco's eyes narrowed again, but he ran a hand through Scorpius' hair nonetheless. "The only reason why he'd feel bad about himself is if he had to put up with your presence any longer."

"Oh, witty," Harry taunted, pulling Scorpius closer. "We're both from Muggle descent; I understand him more than you ever will."

"You're delusional, Potter. You can't possibly understand him any better than I do. You get your own kids-leave mine alone."

Cowering slightly, Scorpius shrugged himself out of Harry's arms only to head towards the bed. "You two actually fight more now than what you do as adults, you know that, right?"

"You actually saw the two of us interacting together?" Draco asked, a little shocked. "I would have thought we would have had nothing to do with each other."

"You two become good friends over this year, so, Dad; take the private classes with Harry. I don't even want to think about how different the future would be if you two weren't friends. Harry's children wouldn't have been born, that's for sure. He never would have gone to you for the potion if he still hated you as much as you two seem to hate each other."

Harry gave Scorpius a surprised look. "So, my kids aren't born with a woman? They're like you?"

Scorpius nodded his head. "We're the only ones in the world to have the DNA of two men. You marry a man and have two children with him, just like Dad does. You two agree about the classes and the tutoring?"

"You're determined to have that happen no matter how you have to force it on us, aren't you?" Draco questioned with an ever-familiar drawl to his voice.

"I _am_ a Malfoy," Scorpius replied with the same tone.

"Oh shit," Harry suddenly breathed, heading towards the door. "I had a meeting with the DA today...Hermione and Ron are going to kill me." As he was running out, he turned back to Draco. "Meet me in the Room of Requirement in two hours. We'll start then, okay?"

-

**Is done...stick around for another week...! Please review...! I like getting plenty reviews. **


	7. Chapter Seven: Nekhabed

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Sorry it's so late in the night for a Friday...I've been swamped with uni and work and I've only just finished writing this chapter.**

**oAmyBlacko: Scorpius might be a bit of an oddity in how he acts, but he's a Slytherin with no social life. He's more than a little bit confused. He doesn't really know how to act with other people. **

**Glow: When I originally thought up this fic, all I wanted to do was write about Harry's life without Draco. That's what I really wanted...back in the angsty days of MBUS. That's really why I give you an insight into how life was for Scorp. **

**Saki: Wow...sorry I caused you this much trouble.**

**Enjoy!!**

-

**Chapter Seven: Nekhabed, Egyptian Goddess of Protection**

**-**

_I can only remember one time when Papa ever struck me. _

_He went through a phase where he couldn't look at me, much less talk to me. For a year, we were barely in the same room together. I managed to find a photo of Dad from when he was my age. I realised just how identical I am to him and knew that my papa couldn't look at me because of it. _

_I dyed my hair that night with a potion I created, making it as black as Papa's hair. _

_When I showed him, he couldn't talk. I've never seen him look so dead before. He was looking at me almost as if I had drawn all over Daddy's head stone. _

_He left the room and it took a while for me to talk to him. Every time I entered the room, he would leave. When I confronted him, his emotions finally got the better of him. _

_He backhanded me. Papa hit me so hard I could barely remember the words that came out of his mouth._

_Papa shouted at me. He never wanted to see me lose pride in what my dad gave me. He couldn't believe that I would hide who I was like that. He wouldn't listen to what I had to say. _

_Before I could get out another word, he sent me upstairs to change what I had done._

_I can't remember seeing him so angry. _

_I tried to tell him over and over again that I was proud of what my dad gave me, but he wouldn't listen. In all honesty, all I wanted was for my papa to look at me again. Covering up who I am wasn't my intention._

_I just didn't want to lose my papa._

-

The first thing Harry did was run to the Room of Requirement to beg for the forgiveness of his friends. He was running much later than even he expected, all because of Scorpius and Malfoy. The two blondes were always eating away at his mind, trying to wheedle their way into his every thought.

And damnit, they were doing such a good job at it. He thought about them more than he did his school work, or even his training. The last thing he needed, really, was a distraction from his training. The defeat of Voldemort was his first priority.

Poor Scorpius grew up in a world where that defeat never occurred. He lost his entire family to the Dark Lord, just like he had.

Trying to change his thoughts, Harry entered the Room of Requirement, reaching the legendary room in record time.

Both Ron and Hermione were sitting in the middle of the room on poufs, going through spell book after spell book. They barely looked up as he stepped closer to them.

"Enjoy the Malfoys?" Ron asked scathingly, flicking through his book.

It didn't take a genius to know that Ron was pissed off. He was actually looking at a book rather than looking up at Harry.

"Ron, I didn't mean to spend any time with them at all...I was coming up here and I saw Malfoy and Nott in a fight..." Harry tried to argue.

"If it was between two Slytherins, why the hell did you get in the way of them?"

"You know that there's something going on between the two of us..."

"I didn't realise you were screwing him!" Ron snapped, now looking at Harry.

Harry stepped forward, seething. "I'm not sleeping with him, but I'm not going to sit by and watch him get beaten to death!"

"It's Malfoy, Harry! He's a Death Eater in training; he's always been our enemy."

"He's a good guy now."

"I'm not claiming him a 'good guy' just because you have a hard-on for him."

"Ronald," Hermione hissed, arguing against his vulgarity. "We both know that Malfoy gave up his family for Scorpius. He went against his father because of that boy..."

"And what? You're trying to tell me that Harry's his father, are you? We all know that'll never happen, so he shouldn't be spending so much time with either of them. It'll just hurt him more when they tell him that. Besides, right now, killing You-Know-Who is the most important thing..."

"I'm well aware of that, Ron. I can't see how come I can't relax some times as well."

The book Ron had been holding was thrown down on the floor before him. "Hermione and I are working our arses off to get you into shape! We're barely even a part of this war, but we're working harder than you are to win it."

Harry conceded to that, knowing that the redhead was right. "I'm sorry, but there's something about Scorpius...you two...you have each other. I...me and Malfoy...it feels right to be with him and Scorpius all the time..." He completely ignored the way the two blushed at his words. "I've never felt it before, but it's...it's _right_."

Hermione placed her own book down with a heavy sigh. "You and Scorpius get along really well, don't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose...sometimes it feels like I've known him all his life or something...and Malfoy and I fight over him every now and then, but I don't know why we do that..." Harry slumped down onto the ground, sitting with his legs crossed. "It's so confusing right now, and I don't mean to be late with these things...it just happens that way."

"He doesn't seem like a bad kid," Hermione mused. "And maybe this thing with you and Malfoy might be useful. We can't even begin to imagine how much Malfoy knows."

"Anyway, Scorp asked me to train Malfoy up to defend himself just in case Nott gets the urge to kill him."

"And naturally, you accepted," Ron grumbled.

"It's a good idea...besides; he's trading it for potions tutoring..."

"_Hermione_ can tutor you."

Harry couldn't catch his words. "Malfoy's better to perve on." He slapped his hand over his mouth. "I didn't mean that...it's just...I'm not exactly straight...and Malfoy's a guy and Hermione's a girl..."

"There was no offence taken in that, Harry," Hermione interrupted softly. He was obviously fretting over his words. "I'd rather perve on him over you, anyway."

"_Hermione_," Ron hissed, shaking his head. "The two of you need a new pin-up boy. I'm sick of hearing about Malfoy and how good looking he is."

Harry smiled lightly, thankful his friends were understanding of his situation. "So...is there any new spell you want to show me?"

-

"This photo is gorgeous."

Scorpius looked up from his work to see Draco holding one of the photos he had brought with him. It was one of his favourites where his dad was supporting him through his first steps.

"Yeah. It's one of the best photos I have of the two of us. Papa took it."

"I can tell." The look on Draco's face was one of pure joy. "He focuses on the two of us like there's nothing but love for us."

"He loved you more than anyone could. Years after your death, he refused to move on. He could never love anyone else."

Draco finally looked up from the photograph. "I wish you could tell me who he is. I feel like I'm falling in love with him already, even though I don't have a clue who he could be. I know it's impossible, but it just feels like it."

"I hope you fall in love with my papa," Scorpius smiled. "I just hope things turn out differently. I don't think I can live through us losing you again. The pain Papa went through was too horrible..."

"You always talk about how it affected your papa, but you never tell me how you felt about it..."

Scorpius shook his head. "I've always loved you, and I've always missed you. Papa and I were the same in that we never wanted to replace you and we certainly couldn't have done that. It's just...Papa suffered 

so much. He blamed himself and he lost his daughter, and the last thing the two of you did was fight. He just couldn't get over it."

"But you could?"

"That's not what I meant, Dad," Scorpius sighed, running a hand through his own hair in frustration. "I always had someone there to tell me stories about you. He made sure I knew everything I could know about you. That was enough for me. I knew that you loved me. Sure, I missed you like hell, but there was nothing I could do about that. I had to be strong for Papa. He was dying inside."

Draco held the photo close to his chest, almost giving in to a sigh. He was falling for this unknown man.

And that really confused him.

Not only had he never met this man before in his life, but there was also the issue of Potter. Something was happening there. The touches were too good to be good.

He realised abruptly just what he had done not even an hour before. His lips had actually touched Potter's skin. He had, _willingly_, nipped at that tanned skin stretching over Potter's collar bone. That was worse than a kiss. Draco placed that up as more intimate than a simple kiss, making it more intimate than raw sex. He was initiating something he really shouldn't initiate.

"Oh crap," Draco breathed, falling back onto the bed.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius asked, reminding Draco that he was there.

"Have you ever been attracted to anyone before?"

A blonde eyebrow so similar to his own rose at his words. "Not really...why?"

He deliberated whether if he should confide in his son or not. The boy had a tendency to admit things he really shouldn't have. "I'm falling for your papa, even though I don't know him, but then I'm attracted to someone else and it's all very confusing right now. It shouldn't be this complicated."

"How do you know that the guy you're attracted to isn't Papa?"

Draco could have sworn his neck snapped as he turned his head to his son. He hadn't really considered the idea of Potter being Scorpius' papa. That concept was beyond insane. He supposed their eyes were similar, and it would have certainly explained Scorpius' height...but then again, he really shouldn't know those things about Potter anyway.

"Your papa can't possibly be this man," Draco claimed, clamping down on those thoughts. Since meeting Scorpius, his mind had started to sort through all the men in his life, filing them away into different piles. The likes of Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle were the first to reach the 'impossible' pile. There were a few past boyfriends who were slotted into the 'possible'.

Potter, who had yet to reach either pile, was instantly thrown into the impossible pile.

"Who is this man you're attracted to?" Scorpius questioned, though Draco could see a sly smirk on his features.

"You already know that answer, you little shit."

The words were light and teasing, bringing a smile to Scorpius' face instead.

"You and Harry would make a great couple."

Unbeknownst to Draco, Scorpius was incredibly uneasy with addressing his papa as such. To call him by his first name was, and always would be, wrong. He was his papa, first and foremost. Never in his dreams had he imagined he would be calling his papa by his first name.

"Did we have a relationship before you were born?"

"I can't tell you that. And even if I could, I wouldn't. Where's the fun in that? That's also why I'm not telling you who Papa is. You wouldn't fall in love with him if you knew."

Draco nearly glared at the boy. "I'm falling in love with him, regardless. It's just happening."

Scorpius' smirk returned. "Who? Harry?"

He blanched. "I'm never going to love that half breed Gryffindor. I just reckon he'd be good in bed."

Hands clasped over ears. "Don't need to know that."

"You can get over it. People do have sex, and I just so happen to be one of them. Better yet, I enjoy it and will probably partake in it while you're here. I'm not meant to be with your papa just yet, so I can enjoy the time that I have left as a single man."

"Wouldn't you feel like you're cheating on him? I mean, you're already falling in love with him. Wouldn't that be the same as having an affair?"

"I'm not technically with him yet, Scorp."

"So you'd sleep with people even though you're not in love with them?"

"Yes." Scorpius seemed so shocked with his answer. "It's been the Malfoy way for generations. Do you really think your grandparents love each other? They don't. They never have. My parents were forced into that marriage and it was arranged long before they had even met each other. It was arranged before my mother was even born. The moment her parents found out she was to be born a girl, they bartered her off to the best male born within five years before her. It's always been that way."

"That's horrible. You're not forcing me to marry any woman I don't know or love," Scorpius decreed. "I don't care if you have to disown me; I'm not marrying for anything less than love."

Draco sighed, reaching out to grab his son's wrist. "I would never do that to you. You're a child born of love. I know how detrimental it is to be born of duty. It's okay. You can marry whoever the hell you want to when you find him or her."

"I get the feeling it'll be a her, Dad."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Scorpius fell back on the bed so that he was lying next to his dad. "I hope you and papa can work it all out. You two are so happy together in my time."

"And how are we in this time?"

The younger teen laughed. "Who's to say I've seen the two of you interact together? I can't tell you those sorts of things."

"It wouldn't hurt. I'd finally be able to put a name and a face to him."

"Enjoy your flirty moments with Harry, Dad. Have you two kissed yet?"

Grey eyes narrowed in Scorpius' direction. "We haven't. You make it seem as if it actually did happen in your time."

"Whatever happens will happen. I'm just hopeful that the two of you can sort out whatever it is your hormones are doing before it's time for me to be born."

"That'd be easily solved if you'd tell me who the hell your papa is."

"No can do. Just...I think Harry would make you happy. You should give it a try, rather than cut him short because he's a Gryffindor."

"He's more than just a Gryffindor. He's the Golden Child, the Chosen One, the Boy-Who-Lived. He's everything my parents would kill me for considering."

"Your parents aren't the one who'll be sleeping with him, now are they?"

"That's disgusting," Draco figured quite simply. He brushed his hand through Scorpius' hair. "I'm glad you got your papa's eyes. They're so striking."

Scorpius smiled softly. "Papa usually said that about my hair. He was glad I got your hair instead of his. He loved your hair, you know? He would always go on about how perfect it was. Papa loved everything about you."

"I can't believe anyone could love me that much. I almost feel bad for the poor bugger. It doesn't seem as if he knows the real me."

"He knows you better than anyone. You two spent so much time together. Even though there was a war going on, he always had time for you."

Draco sat up. "He's a part of the war?"

"Aren't we all?"

"No, as in, he actually fights in it? He's a member of the Order?"

"How do you know about the Order?"

"My father's a Death Eater in the Dark Lord's tightest circle, Scorp. I have to know those sorts of things. How do you know about it?"

"I'm in the Order..."

"The _hell_ you are!" Draco instantly objected. "You can't possibly be in the Order! I won't allow it. You won't be fighting _ever_. How the hell could your papa allow you to be in the Order? Is he _insane_?"

"He never let me, Dad," Scorpius argued, sitting up also. "I could only be inducted after his death. And even then, I was only making potions, just like you did-will do-for them. He never wanted me to fight in the war, I swear it."

"But he's in the Order?"

"Dad..."

Draco shook his head. "How could he let you be exposed to that sort of stuff?"

"You'll know when you find out who he is."

-

Harry couldn't stop himself from looking up at the clock every few minutes. He had told Malfoy two hours, right? As the first hour passed, he couldn't help but hope that he had only told him one and that he'd be there at the door within a few moments.

Hermione had raised an eyebrow as a large grandfather clock appeared in one corner of the room, despite their heavy training. Spells were flying everywhere, and yet Harry had enough time to look around, hoping for Malfoy.

"Harry...we still have another thirty minutes. Focus on this, would you?" Hermione hissed, finally sounding annoyed with him. "This is much more important."

"Sorry," Harry muttered, quickly casting a knockback jinx to Ron's attempted hex.

He had progressed to managing these simple spells wordlessly, which had been a shock to both Severus and Albus. Neither had expected him to do so well with only the instruction of Ron and Hermione. It was the main reason why Albus hadn't interfered with his training.

Those thoughts had Harry jolting.

Why the hell hadn't Albus jumped on the idea of Scorpius. He was certain the older man would have done everything he could have to get information out of the teen from the future. It made him wonder what plot the wizard had for Scorpius, and honestly, it both sickened and worried him.

"Dear Merlin," he gasped out loud, stopping Hermione and Ron's attacks.

"What?" Ron asked, stepping forward to his best friend.

"Scorpius..."

"Him _again_?! Harry! The boy isn't even your kid! He's a _Malfoy_, regardless to who his papa happens to be. Get those two off your mind and get stronger for the sake of _everyone_."

"I'm worried about him, Ron. Dumbledore...he must have something planned for him, and we know that man can't think straight..."

"You're not thinking straight either, mate, and it's ridiculous. You really need to get your mind away from those two."

"And what? Should I be thinking about the war? Should I really dedicate all my time to death and destruction? I can't see how that could possibly any better than thinking about the Malfoys. At least I don't feel like shit whenever I do."

"_Malfoy_ makes you feel good about yourself? Harry, surely that kid put something on you to make this happen. It's just not right."

"What if I am Scorpius' papa?" Harry asked and Ron's breath caught in his throat. "What if Malfoy and I get married in the future and have a baby together...?"

"That's impossible."

Harry shook his head, stepping up closer to Ron. "That's what everyone's been saying about Scorpius' papa. That's all Snape could say when he found out, and Remus was just as shocked..."

"You c_an't_ be, Harry. Malfoy is Malfoy. He's a rotten son of a bitch and nothing will ever change that. You need to stop thinking with your dick. The two of you aren't going to have any children together. Am I the only one who remembers that the two of you hate each other? He's to blame for so many things that have happened to us. He went out of his way to make out lives, especially yours, hell. He tried to get us expelled from school. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten us killed yet..."

"He left his family, Ron. He left them for Scorpius. Would you have been able to turn your back on your family the way he did? He's changing everything he's ever known..."

"I never would have had to do that. My family are good people. We don't hate people because of their bloodlines..."

"Scorpius isn't a pureblood."

The words silenced Ron again.

"Can we drop the subject?" Hermione suggested. "I'd rather we'd not fight over Malfoy like this. It isn't fair to any of us. Harry has his reasons and we have ours."

Harry hung his head low to his chest. "So you agree that this is a little insane?"

"It's Malfoy, Harry. He might be good on the eyes, but he's certainly a fair way away from being a decent human being. And to be honest, I am a little annoyed that you're spending so much time with him. Scorpius, as well. Malfoy could be using you for anything."

"I don't think he is."

"Please, just drop it."

Harry almost felt a sigh leave his body. The idea of the Malfoys had really started to rule his brain, despite his wishes. They were right; he should have been focusing on defeating Voldemort.

However, he couldn't stop his eyes from darting to the clock. He briefly saw Hermione roll her eyes.

"You know what, Harry?" Ron asked, grabbing everything they had brought. "Why don't we leave you here to wait for Malfoy? We'll go to the library and work on something else. Maybe you and Malfoy can sort this crap out before we see you next, okay?"

"Ron...I'm not feeling anything for Malfoy as a person. I'm doing these things because Scorpius asked me and because I can't very well sit and watch him get beaten to death. I admire him and feel less hatred for him for what he's doing, but I still don't think he's a friend, or that he ever could be."

None had even noticed that the door had opened. It was only when they heard Scorpius' voice calling after his dad that they realised.

Harry couldn't remember moving so quickly to reach anyone ever in his life. His feet had moved without his own knowledge, and he wasn't sure if it was because Scorpius sounded so distressed, or if it was for the sake of whatever it was he and Malfoy had.

All that he knew was that he was by Malfoy's side much sooner than he had expected, his hand wrapped around the blonde's elbow, carefully trying to pull him in close to him.

"Bugger off, Potter," Malfoy hissed, though he wasn't sure himself as to why he was so affected by Harry's words. Harry could see how angry the blonde was, but found the reason to be a mystery also.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry's voice came out much softer than he intended.

It certainly had Hermione intrigued.

"Dad?" Scorpius asked, taking the Invisibility Cloak off his body. "Are you alright? Surely..."

"That's enough, Scorpius. We're heading back down to the dungeons," Malfoy decreed, trying to shake his arm free from Harry to reach for his son.

There was just something about Harry's words that stung him, and he needed the comfort of his child.

"Dad..."

"Now, Scorpius."

"You're overreacting, Malfoy," Harry accused, his other hand coming around to Draco's upper arm to keep him from flailing.

Almost instantly, Scorpius' stomach started to turn again. He curled over slightly, his hand moving down to rub at the butterflies. He choked on his breath as he realised he had no hand to soothe with. His green eyes widened when he looked down to see his hand in a transparent state. He couldn't even form a noise in his throat to get attention from his parents.

"Scorpius?" Hermione questioned quietly, grabbing for him. His face had gone much whiter than what was healthy and his breath was barely there.

Both Harry and Draco looked up at her, hearing the worry in her voice.

"Scorpius?"

"Scorp?"

All at once, the anger Draco had for Harry disappeared as he worried about his son. He broke free from Harry as the two moved over to the boy.

"Is it your stomach again?"

Scorpius nodded his head, hiding his hand as much as possible as he stepped towards his dad. He very quickly buried his face into Draco's neck, physically begging to be held. The blonde father complied instantly, wrapping his arms around the younger teen.

"Are you alright now? It's okay. We'll get you something to settle it," Draco promised, pressing a quick kiss on Scorpius' brow.

"I don't like you fighting with him, Dad," Scorpius grumbled loud enough for the other three to hear it. "Please, don't fight with Harry. I'm so used to the two of you being so close...it makes me feel so ill."

The words had Harry's heart falling to his stomach. Yet again, he didn't have a clue why. And more than ever, he wanted to hold Scorpius close to him.

"Scorpius, can I talk to you for a second?" Hermione asked, placing a hand on Scorpius' back to get his attention. Both Harry and Draco felt their tempers flare at her touching the boy. He was theirs to comfort.

"Sure, Aunt Hermione," Scorpius muttered before he could stop himself.

"_Aunt Hermione_?" Draco grumbled. He hadn't been there when Scorpius had originally explained this. Scorpius gently released his dad and walked off back into the Room of Requirement with Hermione.

Ron raised an eyebrow when Harry turned back to Malfoy.

"Look," Harry started, his arm coming up Draco's again. He was quickly shrugged off.

"I don't want you touching me," Draco hissed fairly quickly. "I don't want you talking to me. You can stay far away from me."

Harry grabbed at the side of Draco's shirt, yanking him close with one flick of his wrist. Ron felt the need to turn away from the both of them, feeling he was looking in on something too intimate.

Draco struggled a little, feeling the heat of Harry's skin through his clothes. "That's enough, Potter."

"You can't be this angry with me over a few words," Harry tried to reason. "Besides, I didn't think you would have cared enough..."

The way Draco looked up at Harry stole his breath. The emotion behind his eyes was near shattering.

"Whatever this is...it's more than just _friendship_, Potter," Draco breathed, stepping closer to Harry. Their redheaded audience turned away, heading towards the Room of Requirement. His low curse was ignored when he found out the doors were locked firmly.

Harry's skin buzzed when Draco pressed into his body. "This is..."

"It's driving me insane, to tell you the truth."

The brunette would have laughed if things weren't so damn tense.

Instead, he grabbed Draco's wrist, pulling his left hand up to his lips. He pressed a quick kiss to the back of Draco's hand.

"You're not allowed to do that," Draco accused, feeling his entire body flush at the simple motion.

Harry shook himself from his thoughts, dropping the hand. "I really just did that...?"

Draco nodded his head, quickly nuzzling Harry's jaw. "I think we might need some time away from each other," he muttered. "This is getting out of control."

"I'd say," Ron coughed from the door to the Room of Requirement. He nervously scratched at his head as he looked away from the two of them.

It was only then that they realised that they weren't completely alone. "Shit, Ron. Sorry," Harry mumbled, stepping far away from the blonde. "Yes. Time away from each other...good idea. Ummm, we have those things that Scorpius suggested...the lessons in exchange for tutoring...?"

"Scorp should be there for each and every lesson."

Harry nodded his head, agreeing to Draco's terms. He was already missing the blonde's touch, craving the feel of warmth.

"Where'd Hermione go?" Harry asked Ron, dragging his eyes away from Draco.

"She's in there with Malfoy junior." Harry cocked his head to the locked doors.

-

"It was your stomach first?" Hermione asked Scorpius softly.

"Yeah. It's not the first time, either."

"I guessed as much. It must be hard when your parents fight like that."

Scorpius was words away from agreeing with her statement, but stopped himself in time to raise an eyebrow at her in a Malfoy-like manner.

"You know...?"

"I'm one of the few people who have seen Harry's actual eyes, Scorpius. When he's not hiding his scar with his fringe and you can actually see his eyes clearly, you can see just how beautifully green they are. Yours are so similar to his-you'd have to be his child," Hermione explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "That and I saw your hand disappearing."

Scorpius looked down at the aforementioned hand. "That's never happened before. It scares me. I don't know what it means."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "It happened when they started fighting..."

"That's the same time when my stomach feels bad."

She sighed. "Maybe it's tied in with the time. I mean, if they were fighting like that, you wouldn't have thought that the two of them would marry..."

"It was telling me that I wasn't going to be born?" Scorpius asked, his mouth dropping open. "They're never allowed to fight ever again. If that happens, then they won't fall in love. If they don't fall in love, they won't be happy together. I want them to be happy. They have to be..."

Hermione rubbed his arm soothingly.

"Are you alright with my parents being together?" Scorpius asked after a moment. "I know Papa means so much to you, and I know that you don't like Dad just yet...but they're really meant for each other. They love each other...they're soul mates, I swear it..."

"I know, Scorpius," Hermione breathed, "but you have to realise...right now, your papa-_Harry_-has other things to deal with. You-Know-Who is such a risk to everyone here. We're worried for our lives. What the two of you don't understand is that right now is that he can't let himself be worried over you and your dad. He's wasting time with the two of you when he should be focusing on the war..."

"I know a lot more than you think," Scorpius interrupted, his voice rising for the first time since he arrived in this time. "I lost both my parents to Voldemort. He stole my baby sister away from me before she was even born...he ripped her from our surrogate mother's womb and killed her in front of my dad's eyes. He forced my papa to see it all through the link they share." He was shaking. "I never went to Hogwarts. I never even had a wand. Papa was too scared to let me outside for most of my life. Voldemort gave me a life where I'd rather be dead, Aunt Hermione. I know how strong he is and how much it hurts when he's there in your life. Papa is the mortal enemy of Voldemort. All he wants to do is kill him. I had to live with that for fifteen years. I had to go ten years without my dad. My papa was a soulless being the moment my dad was killed. You can't possibly imagine what that life is like." He shuddered at his words, wiping away the angry tears that burned his cheeks.

Hermione sighed heavily. "I'm sorry about..."

"I'm sick of people telling me that they're sorry. You just assumed that I didn't know what pressure is on my papa's shoulders. I know all too well what he's going through. My dad made my papa happy. And he should be happy. You can't expect him to live through this with nothing but war on his mind. He deserves joy and love."

-

Draco tucked Scorpius into bed like he usually did. "How's your stomach?"

"It's alright now. Just...please don't fight with Harry anymore. Please?"

The older teen ran his hand through Scorpius' hair. "You don't have to worry. Potter and I...we're not going to see much of each other..."

"That's not right...you two have something deep going on..."

"That's why we can't be near each other anymore." Draco let off a shy smile. "He kissed me."

"_What_? When?"

"When you were in the Room of Requirement with your aunt-it was only on the hand, though. It was nothing to get worked up over."

"Are you getting worked up?"

Draco's mouth went dry. "I think so."

-

"Holy shit; I kissed him."

Four pairs of eyes widened in his direction.

"Harry? Mate?" Seamus asked softly, looking at the Seeker oddly. "Are you alright?"

"I-I-I actually kissed him...I can't believe I...holy shit."

-

**Is done...I can has a review...or many...? See you next week with...hmmmm...yes! More action with Drarry...! Maybe even a better kiss...? I has it all planned, so I know, but none of you know...tee hee!**


	8. Chapter Eight: Aphrodite

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**OMG...I just finished this at 11:51 pm on Friday night...holy hell... I shouldn't have spent the whole day in the city today...**

**I'm really glad everyone loved the 'holy shit' moment...I loved writing it.**

**Katidid: I have twenty-one chapters planned.**

**-**

**Chapter Eight: Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love**

-

_The principal hated me. He hated Papa, too. He would always say that my bad attitude came from my lack of a mother. The first time that was mentioned, Papa told him that I originally had two fathers and never had a mother. That seemed to make that dickhead hate me even more._

_The more time I spent in the school, the worse the offenses got. The detentions for being late moved on to detentions for not doing the homework, skipping classes, disobeying the teachers and being rude to the other students. My first suspension came after I struck down a classmate during a PE class after he expressed his homophobic outlooks. _

_Papa was so angry, but he didn't listen to me when I told him how much I hated the school. _

_I only had a few friends. They would skip class with me. For a few months, that's all we'd do. And still, Papa forced me to stay. We were hated by the rest of the school; we were the outcasts that no one wanted to talk to. I acted as if it didn't bother me, but they seemed so happy, talking about how much fun they had on the weekend with each other. I could never bring any of my friends home. There was too much of a risk there'd be an attack on Papa's life._

_I hated Rose and Hugo so much for their life at Hogwarts. I was suffering with those idiots but they loved their lives. _

_I really couldn't stand being there day after day._

-

"Up."

Harry groaned, curling closer to his pillow. The last thing he wanted to do was go to his Potions class. Malfoy and Snape in the one room together, and he'd be shocked to death if Snape was unaware of the sexual tension between the two boys.

"Look, I don't mind if you don't show up for that class, but Hermione will tear you a new one and you know that," Ron continued, shaking the brunette's shoulder. "Come on. You'll miss out on breakfast at this rate."

"I'm not going."

The hands stopped their rocking for a mere moment. "She'll kill you and then she'll kill me for letting you skive out of this as well as everything else."

"Low blow, mate," Harry grumbled, turning around. He placed his glasses on his face, looking up at the redhead. "How am I supposed to go there, Ron? I _kissed_ him." The words were hissed out so the other three couldn't hear him. They were still in the room, preparing for their own classes.

Although Ron's scores weren't high enough for him to enter the NEWTs Potions class, he was still meant to be there for the OWLs class. The two classes were held in the same room at the same time, but the lower level was there with the barest of help from Snape.

"I don't think he's willing to let that become public knowledge, Harry. He'd be just as disgusted as you are."

The pillow was suddenly smashed into Harry's face by his own hands. "I'm not disgusted by it," he admitted weakly. "I want more."

Ron took a step back. "Get up before you need a cold shower."

-

Scorpius had begged his dad to let him attend the Potions class. He had wanted to see his Uncle Sev in action for so long, and he was finally given the chance to see the infamous potions master work his magic in the classroom.

Draco had agreed, but told him to stay away from most of the Slytherins. The last thing he needed was for the kid to have little run ins with the people who currently hated him the most, regardless to the Invisibility Cloak. Scorpius was beyond ecstatic at the news.

"I might even be able to help Harry pass a potion for once."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I doubt that. It's a waste of time."

The younger teen laughed, throwing the Invisibility Cloak over his head. "Let's go. I wanna get a good seat."

"It's too early," Draco objected, but watched as the door opened and listened as his footsteps left the floor. "Stupid brat."

-

It was very rare that Harry went down to Potions class early, but Hermione had dragged him there when she saw how reluctant he was to head off the class. She made him grab nothing more than a few bites to eat and then pulled him the whole way down the dungeon long before they were needed there.

They were corridors away from the actual room when Scorpius bumped into them, covered in the Cloak.

"Scorpius?" Harry asked, watching as the blonde pulled the Cloak from his body.

"Dad told me I had to wait out here until the other students started to show up," Scorpius grumbled. "He's talking with Blaise Zabini about...something...I don't know what...but they both seemed really angry."

Harry swore under his breath as he took off in the direction Scorpius had come from. He rounded the corner just in time to see Zabini pin Malfoy to the stone wall before he forced their lips together.

And for once in his life, Harry felt a possessive rage.

Malfoy fought against the kiss, kicking out as much as he could, but his slighter form hardly made a dint in Zabini's bigger body. Hands moved over Malfoy's body, crushing their hips together as the taller boy pushed them closer together.

It was only when Zabini felt the tingling of Harry's wand pressed against the base of his skull that he released Draco from his grip.

"Back off, Zabini," Harry hissed, watching as Draco slipped out from the cage his body had created.

"This has nothing to do with you, Potter," the Slytherin claimed, raising his hands in a defensive manner.

"He's right," Draco confirmed, but moved behind Harry nonetheless.

"He was forcing himself on you and you expect me not to react?" Harry asked.

There was a gasp from the pinned boy. "Are you screwing him, Draco?" Zabini asked, figuring that was a reasonable excuse for Harry's reaction. "Is that...is that why you did what you did? Your father will kill you and you know that..."

"We're not doing anything," Draco objected, briefly feeling his hand tingle as if Harry was kissing it again. It craved Harry's touch again. "You know me better than to think I'd have any sort of relationship with a Gryffindor, let alone the Golden Boy."

"Then explain what you did! You couldn't have risked it all for absolutely nothing. It makes no sense..."

"Theo wasn't willing to listen to an explanation and you won't take the one I tried to give you."

"Why's he protecting you?"

Grey eyes looked over Harry's form. "I don't know...maybe he's fallen in love with me or something."

It took all of Harry's control not to turn around and hex Draco for making such an accusation. It didn't stop the blush from creeping over his face, though.

Despite his claim, Draco's fingers trailed over Harry's own. Harry's stomach flipped-but in that good way-before he lowered his wand. "Back off, Zabini. That's all there is to it."

The taller teen stepped away from Harry but turned around to leer at Draco. "I'll see you in class."

The moment he was into the classroom, Scorpius came out of hiding. "What happened?" he demanded to know, again ripping the Cloak from his body. "Did he hurt you?

"I'm fine," Draco claimed, shoving his disobedient hand into his pocket. "Cloak back on; we're in deep trouble if anyone sees you."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and shoved the Cloak back over his head. "See if I ever get Harry to save your life again."

-

Ron joined them at the very start of the class, losing a few points for his lateness. He merely shrugged his shoulders to Harry and Hermione before he took his seat at the back of the class. That was where he and the other OWL Potions students were meant to stay, while Snape worked with the smarter students up the front. Harry was glad that he and Hermione were always partnered together. With Ron at the back of the class, they never had to separate, which lessened his chances of being stuck with Malfoy. Even though they had gotten closer, it still wouldn't have been a good class had they been forced to work together. In fact, it was highly likely it would have been far too awkward now they were where they were in the relationship. He didn't even want to imagine what it would be like.

However, most of the time, they worked separately. Unfortunately for Harry, that just meant that he could make more and more mistakes and be the sole reason for them.

"You have me now," he heard Scorpius whisper to him as he groaned at the complexity of the potion. Harry couldn't help the small smile that crossed his mouth. He quickly caught Malfoy's eyes and grinned at him, wordlessly telling him that Scorpius was there to help him. Malfoy just shook his head with a weak smile of his own.

The potion today was a separate task, so Harry went to get his ingredients just like everyone else did. He was more than shocked when the Slytherins didn't knock him out of their way. Instead, they focused their attention on Malfoy, shoving him between each other and trapping him against the solid shelves. The moment Snape raised his eyes to the less than amicable behaviour, they all stopped, but the moment his head was down again, they were at it.

There was nothing the potions master could do about it. He would be under suspicion for halting their actions. Although he knew that, it pissed him off. However, there was no way in hell the anger was limited to the two Order members.

Harry caught Scorpius just in time, knowing the kid would rush off to help his dad. He subtly did so, but looked down at the invisible boy when he felt something cool and round slip into his palm.

"Put a few drops of this on their clothes," he heard Scorpius whisper as he examined the bottle. It was a complete sphere other than a small nozzle, which was obviously to be used as a dropped with small portions. Reaching up as non-suspiciously as possible, he planted a few drops on Nott's shoulder. As he grabbed up the ingredients, he watched the taller boy's reaction closely. By the time he was back at his desk (and Malfoy was safely at his own as well), Nott approached Snape, complaining about a loss of feeling to his right arm. From what Harry overheard, he couldn't feel anything past his shoulder blade.

Snape sent him to his room with a potion he dug out of his desk.

The laughter that came from Scorpius was barely contained.

"The Weasley twins didn't have a say in your upbringing, did they?" Harry whispered.

He heard the blonde choking on his laughter. "Could you imagine my dad letting them anywhere near me?"

Harry's own chuckles were stifled. "I think he'd had a heart attack just seeing them near you." The ingredients started to line themselves up on Harry's desk, clearly through Scorpius' handiwork. Green eyes skimmed the instructions in the book before he gave the thin air before him a sceptical look. "You've been those roots three stages before they're supposed to be added." He moved to relocate the ingredients, only to have Scorpius force his hand back down.

"I know what I'm doing."

Giving the blonde the benefit of the doubt (and knowing he'd be caught out if he continued to communicate with him), Harry gave up on arguing the point and made the potion the exact way Scorpius instructed him to.

More than once, Snape moved his way, raising an eyebrow at how things were turning out.

"Potter, where is Mister Malfoy?" he asked, watching Harry as he added in the final ingredients.

Harry turned around to see Malfoy a few desks down to his left. "Just down there, sir."

"You know what I..." His sentence was rudely interrupted by the perfect timing of Neville's mistake. His cauldron bubbled over and onto the table, threatening to destroy the desk he and Ron were working at. Before Snape had time to chide Harry for his answer, he rushed off to handle the incident the best he could.

Harry's followed him with his gaze, but as he turned back to his cauldron, he found grey staring back at him. Those eyes were taking in his every detail again, just as much as they had that night outside Scorpius' room. He felt the tingling hit him, going from the tips of his ears to the last nerve in his toes. As the tingling crept back up his body, it stopped halfway, direction at his groin.

Draco's teeth had captured his bottom lip in a way that was oh-so-sensual. Harry had to tear his eyes away before the sensations hitting his body caused a reaction he really didn't want to have.

Not again.

-

"Where the hell is Scorpius?" Harry asked, looking around the room but finding no younger teen.

Draco sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Professor Snape grabbed him up after the stint the two of you played. He's taking all of Scorpius' dangerous potions away. I'm surprised he didn't take him off to Dumbledore after what the two of you did. You could have severely damaged his arm with that."

"And? He shouldn't have been pushing you around like that."

Harry nearly stepped back when Draco stepped up closer to him. He rarely watched Draco walk, but now, he saw the way those hips moved and found himself tingling all over again.

"You shouldn't have treated Blaise like that, either."

"I'm not going to sit around and let him molest you like that. The two of you are over..."

"That's none of your business."

Harry felt his whole body burn at Draco's words. "None of my business? Aren't you the one who got pissy at me when I said we weren't even friends?"

There was a dryness to Draco's mouth after that. "Were you jealous?"

Awkwardly, Harry stood in a defensive stance. "I wasn't _jealous_..."

"Possessive then?"

That struck a nerve. Yes. He was angry with Zabini for putting his hands-his _lips_-on _his_ blonde.

Draco took Harry's silence as a yes and sighed again. He took a step forward, noting Harry's slight retreat again.

"Stop," Draco demanded, watching as Harry actually listened to him. He moved closer to the brunette until they were right in each other's space.

"What are you doing?" Harry muttered weakly, loving how close the blonde was to him. His hands moved up to grab the slim hips that now taunted him with ever step Draco took. Before he could help himself, one of his hands untucked the white school shirt from Draco's pants and slipped his hand onto the soft skin beneath it. "Didn't we agree...?"

"Yes, we did, and that's why I have to get this out of my system."

"Have to get wha...?"

Harry's question was cut off short as Draco stood on his toes, pressing their lips together. He instantly melted, eyes closing as he pulled Draco in as close to him as possible, wrapped his arms around the blonde tightly. Draco's arms went around Harry's neck, deepening their kiss.

It was as mind blowing as Harry had ever experienced. He tilted his head, moaning as he felt Draco's lips nipping at his own.

All too quickly, Draco started to untangle himself from Harry's grasp, his hands trailing down to Harry's chest to break away from him.

The kiss stopped with a complaining groan from Harry.

Draco, on the other hand, shuddered as he rested his head against Harry's shoulder. "Okay," he breathed, licking his lips, "that was...now that that's over..." He couldn't get his head around the words. "Now that I've done that, I can focus on other things..."

"The hell with that," Harry hissed, pulling Draco against him sharply. "It's only making me want more."

Draco pushed against Harry's chest weakly. "Scorpius will be here soon..."

"I don't care."

Harry's hand came up behind Draco's head and pushed their lips together again in a more desperate kiss. He barely had to ask for permission; it was granted the moment Draco felt him trying to breech his lips. They were intertwined so deeply, loving every moment of it.

The brunette had never once imagined his nemesis would taste this damn good, and the feel of him in his arms was beyond any dream he had ever had, and yet, there he was. He was absolute perfection.

Harry had never jumped so high in his life like he did when the door to the Room of Requirement opened up.

"Oh my god; I'm so sorry."

They both heard Scorpius' voice, but had separated long before he could find it.

"Think nothing of it," Harry insisted, licking his lips before he could help himself. He sheepishly raised his eyes to the older blonde to find him with his back to him. He was hurriedly tucking his clothes back to their normally perfect state, pushing his hair back into place where he knew Harry had messed it up.

"Dad?" Scorpius removed the Invisibility Cloak.

Draco ran his hand through his hair again before he turned around to face his son. "Sorry about that." His face was beyond red. Harry never thought he'd see so much colour in a Malfoy before.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...just a little..."

"I guess it's not every day I walk in to see my dad snogging another man..."

Draco gasped. "You...oh no. Your papa..."

"It's okay," Scorpius smiled brightly. He stepped up to his dad and pulled him into a tight embrace. "You and Papa don't end up together for a long time. Go ahead and snog the Gryffindor all you want. It doesn't affect me at all. I'm glad to see you and Harry getting along so well, actually."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm quite certain Harry had his tongue down your throat."

That had the two students blushing as darkly as possible. Harry cleared his throat.

"Are you ready to start with your training?" he asked, looking at Draco.

The blonde merely nodded his head. He was pleased to get off the conversation.

"Can I join?" Scorpius asked, completely hopeful. Both Harry and Draco shot down the idea as soon as it was proffered. "Why not? I can fight alongside you guys. I mean, I have a fighting spirit in my DNA. Both my dad and my papa are strong fighters..."

"Your dad isn't a strong fighter. If he was, he wouldn't be here now," Harry pointed out.

Draco scoffed at that. "I'm here because Scorpius asked me to get help. I don't need it from you, Potter. I'm fully capable of fighting and winning on my own."

The moment Harry's eyes made contact with Draco's, they both wished they hadn't. Stomachs became swamped with butterflies and other fluttering creatures, not for the first time that day.

Scorpius' nervous cough brought them out of it. They both turned to him to apologise, but found him pointing at something behind them. "Anyone want to explain that?" Harry could have died at what he saw.

"That wasn't me," he claimed, looking at the overly luxurious four poster bed at the back of the room.

The Slytherin quickly denied having summoned the bed as well.

It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and was soon replaced with training equipment.

-

"Harry and Mister Malfoy are getting closer and closer, it would seem," Remus said to Severus, going over the potion master's class notes.

"Their kid is helping him out," Severus retorted, snatching the notes from Remus' hand. "I could have brought the potion to you. It's got another ten minutes left."

Remus shrugged, bumping into Severus gently as he walked past him to look into the bubbling cauldron. "It doesn't bother me. I've finished marking my papers after all."

"Shouldn't you be with your partner?"

His voice was like acid and that made the werewolf angry. It was quickly coming up for a bite.

"Nymphadora has to work tonight. She doesn't like to be around through a full moon."

"So I get stuck with your company?"

They were in Severus' office where Severus was working on several potions at once. Remus had joined him for his company, watching the taller man work at what he loved so much.

There was a grace about Severus Snape when he set his mind to his potions. He could easily work on multiple brews without losing focus on a single step. Everything was thought out perfectly. At the same time, it was completely natural to him. One ingredient was sliced one way for the potion on his left; the same substance was pressed another way for the cauldron on his right. He worked the knives with efficiency, mere silver glints in the scarce light as he used their thin blades like they were extensions of his body.

"You really do make this whole potion-making thing look like an art, you know?" Remus enquired, coming up behind the Slytherin.

For the first time in a long time, Severus felt his body respond to the presence of another. If his suspicions were correct, the werewolf behind him was his future husband and he couldn't have asked for anyone better. The Gryffindor was an intelligent man capable of virtually anything. His time with Potter and Black taught him how to be resilient; taught him to do what he had to in order to get what he wanted. Add it to the nature of the wolf growling so close to the surface and he got a passionate man who was potentially the man he was to be with for the rest of his life.

He had a sneaking suspicion that the wolf was barely contained as he felt Remus' reaching for something on the desk before him. In order to do so, Remus' hand slipped between Severus' own body and his arm. Severus' breath caught when he saw the sliver of the knife's blade disappear from sight in the werewolf's hand.

"And just what do you plan on doing with that, Lupin?" Severus breathed. He found it hard to raise his voice above a harsh whisper and found himself mentally cursing for his reaction to the other's movements. That wolf was _very_ close to the surface, especially so late in the night of a full moon.

"I'm just looking."

He felt the hot breath on the back of his neck, getting a larger reaction from his body.

The silver item briefly came into his view just before he heard it slicing into his shirt.

"It's as sharp as it looks," Remus assessed.

"You need your potion or your woman."

Remus laughed cruelly. "She might be my woman, but not the mate."

The werewolf deliberately rose up on his toes to whisper that to his ears.

Severus decided they were beyond flirting. "Give me the knife, Lupin."

He obeyed, slipping the knife into Severus' hand. However, he grabbed the appendage and pulled it up to his mouth. With a gentle nip, he bit into the worn skin of Severus' hand, making sure not to break the skin. "Why have you been acting differently with me?" Remus asked, his other hand tearing where he had cut at the shirt.

"I'm not the one trying to intimidate you," Severus replied.

Remus licked where he had bitten. "I'm not trying to intimidate you at all, Severus. I can smell it."

"Smell what? If you somehow believe it's fear, it's not."

"I know it's not fear. It's so much more tempting than fear."

The hand not holding Severus' moved around Severus' body to the front of his waist. His fingers quickly danced over the fly of Severus' pants, rubbing gently when he found what he wanted.

"You bastard," Severus hissed out, his stomach clenching at the action. The mousey man was teasing him in one of the cruellest of was.

All he received in return was a chuckle. The fingers disappeared, retreating.

"I told you it was more tempting." He finally let go of the hand. "I believe there's a potion somewhere that's burning."

Severus' hands came back to life as he felt the werewolf back away from him; though found that he missed the warmth Remus had been providing him. He went to work at fixing the spoilt potion, thankful it wasn't the wolfsbane that had began to curdle.

He heard the back door open and nearly cursed as he realised Remus had gone into his private room. The wolfsbane had been close to spoiling though, so he spent his time working on bringing it back.

By the time it was safe enough to leave the potion alone, he followed Remus into the room, giving his torn shirt the barest of glimpses.

What he found had him close to tearing his hair out.

That damned werewolf had spread himself out on Severus' bed, reading the letter Scorpius had left him with. He was lying on his back, lying across the bed sideways with his legs hanging over the edge.

"Give that here," Severus ordered, though he didn't expect the ex-Marauder to listen.

"This is the letter Scorpius gave you when we were in Albus' office?" Remus asked, placing the letter back on the table without taking his eyes off Severus.

"Yes."

"So you've known for that long? You've known about our future together for this long?"

Severus sighed lightly, approaching the bed. He knelt on it next to Remus, reaching for the letter. When he straightened out, he realised just how close he was and instantly berated himself for it. The last thing he really needed was to push the already tempted wolf over the edge.

"I had my suspicions. How did you find out?"

"Scorpius told me in a way."

Severus nodded his head, finally understanding. "How long ago?"

"The first night."

A black eyebrow rose up. "You've known for that long? That's not...why the hell would you argue with my decision to keep it a secret when you've known for as long as I have?"

"Well, he wasn't meant to tell me..."

Severus scrunched up the letter. He kept it only for the words on Remus. Now that the werewolf knew, there was no reason for him to keep it there for his anxiety.

"You're still with that woman, though, aren't you?"

Remus shrugged in a way that Severus could only explain as sexily. He looked so sensual the way he was spread on his bed for him.

"Scorpius told me she has to catch me cheating on her with you before our relationship could end...he wants it to be just as it had been in his time."

"Things didn't turn out too well in his time if memory serves me right."

Remus pushed himself up so that their faces were only inches apart.

"I really want this," Remus admitted softly.

Severus felt his mouth slip open for just a second before he looked down. "Not now," he argued softly, wanting nothing more than to have the werewolf writhing in his bed.

"Why not?"

He held himself up with one hand as he used the other to unbutton the first of Severus' buttons. The potions master quickly smacked the hand away. Undeterred, Remus started on untucking him.

"It's a full moon tonight..."

"I've had sex on a full moon before, Severus," Remus smirked, his hand flicking a second button free from its hole. "The trick is to get it over and done with before the moon fully rises."

"Are you thinking straight?" Severus demanded, removing Remus' hand from his shirt. It just came back for more. Needing the other to see his reasoning, Severus grabbed his wrist, pinning him to the bed. There was a flash of triumph in his eyes. "This isn't me initiating sex..."

"I initiated it, actually," Remus countered, his free hand cupping Severus' cheek before aiming for a third button. So far, he'd managed the top and the bottom button.

That hand was held down with Severus' other hand, but he quickly switched so that he could hold both wrists in his one hand, pinning the arms down above Remus' head.

"Not tonight," he reiterated, though he wasn't all that successful. Having straddled the Gryffindor, his body was reacting as strong as it ever had.

"So you're just teasing me?"

"I don't think our relationship is supposed to start off like this."

"Who cares?" The wolf in Remus was incredibly interesting. It turned him into a highly sexual being, it would seem. "For all we know, this is how it started in Scorpius' time."

Severus lowered his lips to Remus' in a chaste kiss, pulling away a moment later. That was the first time he had ever heard Remus growl, letting the wolf take over physically for a moment.

"First years would kiss better than that, Severus."

The free hand traced Remus' lips before a second kiss graced them. It was needy and rough in Remus' desperation, but short lived.

"Severus! If you don't do more..."

"You'll what, Lupin?" Severus sat up as he felt his wand vibrate in his pocket. It was a timer, letting him know that the wolfsbane was completed. He sat up, releasing his hold on the Gryffindor, who immediately reached for him. Remus dragged their mouths together, winding their tongues in a dance that nearly had Severus submitting to both their wants.

He forced himself away and into the office before Remus could complain. He came back moments later with the wolfsbane potion.

"Drink it and go back to your woman."

Red quickly flashed through his eyes as the wolf tried to argue the order, but the human won out. With a shaking hand, Remus showed just how strong he was compared to the wildness inside him.

-

Albus held his forehead in his hand. He had just received the news.

A student had been taken by Voldemort. He had been lured out into the Forbidden Forest with promises of a place within Voldemort's Inner Circle.

He was rewarded with a brutal abduction.

Blaise Zabini had been beaten by the Death Eaters before they Apparated away with his bloodied body.

Albus had thanked the centaur responsible for relaying the information before he begrudgingly called up everyone in the Order to him.

-

**Sorry it's so late and short...**

**Please review...?**

**Hope you enjoyed it...I loved writing the Sev/Remus moment...I was listening to **_**Before I'm Dead**_** by kidneythieves as I wrote it...it just sounded perfect for the dirty sexiness of that scene.**


	9. Chapter Nine: Vidar

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Dementor Ice Cream: I'm looking so forward to writing that part...I've had it planned out since I started writing this. Not much longer until it's discovered...!**

**Ice: I'm glad you're enjoying it so muchly. **

**I'm really happy everyone loved the Sev/Remus moment...the song I was listening to when I wrote it just reminds me so much of vampire sex that it got a little out of hand. I hadn't expected it to go that far. **

**Enjoy!**

**-**

**Chapter Nine: Vidar, Norse God of Revenge**

-

_I hardly ever fought with Rose. She was my best friend and the person outside my family who I cared for the most. She would talk about all the fun she was going to have when her parents agreed to let her go to Hogwarts. She would bounce up and down with excitement, knowing how she was going to enjoy the Hogwarts life. _

_It pissed me off the see her so excited about Hogwarts. _

_I would be stuck in a Muggle school, and she'd be learning things that actually mattered. _

_The last time she visited that summer, I yelled at her. She was showing off the books she had and I yelled. It all finally boiled over._

_Although I was only eleven, I had lost so much. My daddy was gone; I never knew my baby sister or a normal life and the one thing I thought would have been certain was ripped from me._

_It was just too much for me._

_I hated yelling at her like that, but she was the only one there to catch it all._

_And when I was finished, she hugged me. It was just like the hugs Aunt Hermione gave me. There was love and kindness and warmth. I started to cry. It wasn't fair. Voldemort didn't even know of my existence and yet he had destroyed my life._

-

Spells flew at each other, blinding streams of red and blue lit up the cold stone walls of the Room of Requirement as the two seventh-year students dodged each other.

With a simple flick of his wrist, and without saying a word, Harry disarmed Draco, stopping the match.

"You don't have a defence," Harry muttered, picking up Draco's wand. Scorpius was sitting in the far corner, bubbled in a spell Harry had cast on him before the match has started. He was completely impervious to the slighter hexes they were using.

"You weren't out to kill me," Draco countered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I didn't see any real reason to put up a defence."

Harry sighed, glancing at the younger teen over his shoulder. Scorpius had been there for his dad the moment he found out Blaise Zabini had been taken by the Death Eaters.

"And what are you teaching Scorpius with that attitude?"

"Scorpius isn't going into battle _ever_, so it doesn't really matter."

Draco was walking closer to Harry to retrieve his wand. Since word of Zabini's abduction got around school, Draco had been itching to train with Harry. The brunette knew it was so he could get his mind off his missing ex, so he had complied.

He was thankful Scorpius was there. It was less tempting...

Harry stopped his thoughts. Whenever he thought about those kisses, he only wanted more, and the Slytherin was now close enough to smell.

The slighter hand of Draco wrapped around the wand in his own before he pulled it away. That didn't stop Harry's own hand from following, if only to brush against Draco's.

"Potter," Draco warned weakly, craving the touch the brunette was offering. His eyes lowered as he let out a breath.

"Are you alright?"

Draco shook his head. "Blaise...he might have been a fool...but he..."

Understanding, Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulders, pulling him in closely.

Just being there in Harry's arms made Draco feel better, his fingers grabbing at Harry's clothes weakly.

Harry looked up at Scorpius when he felt the boy's eyes on them. He was getting up from where he had been reading, heading for his parents.

He didn't get too close. In a move that was far too comical for the situation, Scorpius bounced off his dad as he tried to hug him. Landing on his rear after bouncing a fair way away, he couldn't help but laugh at what had just happened.

Both Harry and Draco joined him, watching him as his protective bubble kept him safe from everything around him.

It certainly lightened the mood.

Draco slipped out of Harry's arms to approach his son. Reaching to the boy to help him up, the three burst out into laughter as Scorpius' body was physically thrown away from the appendage. He bounced off the far wall and came to a halt before his parents.

"You should have done this sooner," Scorpius grinned before he took off running towards the closest wall. He flew back feet before he actually came in contact with it, barely missing Harry.

The distraction was just what Draco needed.

He stood, watching his son's antics with a smile when Harry wrapped his arms around his shoulders again, this time from behind.

The brunette pressed a kiss on the corner of Draco's left eye, catching the barest teardrop.

Draco chuckled lightly, his hands coming up to rest on Harry's wrists. "You're not allowed to kiss me."

"Oh? So, it's all good for you to kiss me, but not the other way around?"

"It was better than good," Draco admitted, loving the way Harry fit around him. They were perfectly fitted for each other.

Harry hummed, agreeing with Draco's comment. "Your son is going to kill us."

Draco's laughter got louder as Harry's arm travelled around his waist to pick him up and move them just before Scorpius' bounding body came at them.

"I'll try to get him back," Harry whispered, his arms tightening around Draco. "I'm going tonight with the Order. We'll try..."

Suddenly, Draco started to shake his head. "No. You're not allowed to. I'm not letting you go."

"Malfoy...I'd almost think you're falling for me," Harry laughed weakly. "If he's alive, we'll bring him back. I promise."

"You come back as well."

Harry nodded his head, lowering his forehead to Draco's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," Scorpius told them, getting as close as he dared to. "He comes back from this raid alive and well...it takes more than what they have waiting for him to defeat the great Harry Potter."

"See? I'll be fine."

"Don't let that get to your head, Potter," Draco snapped. "Even though you know this, still go as if you don't. I'm not going to ever forgive you if you get the slightest _scratch_."

Harry chuckled, tipping his mouth to Draco's ear. "You can examine me in person when I get back. I promise you, there won't be a single scratch, bruise, abrasion-I won't even let a mosquito bite me."

Draco was thankful the words were whispered. He was certain Scorpius didn't need to hear Harry's invitation.

"I'll hold you to that."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Scorpius cocked his head to one side, feigning innocence. "Is Harry my new papa?" he asked with a bold grin.

They broke away instantly, blushing deeply at the insinuation.

Draco couldn't help but feel guilty for being so close to Harry. "Scorp, can you leave us for a while?"

Green eyes widened briefly before Scorpius agreed. Both Harry and Draco watched as he left the Room, slipping on the Invisibility Cloak as the door closed behind him.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, scratching at the back of his head. "Did I do something wrong? I mean, you're the one who originally came on to me..."

Draco smiled weakly. "I'm in love with Scorpius' papa...this isn't right..."

Shocking him, Harry laughed. "Of course whatever this is isn't right. I'm a Gryffindor, you're a Slytherin. I'm destined to destroy the man your father hails as a god. This was screwed up to begin with." He reached up, placing stray hairs behind Draco's ear.

"Don't even think about kissing me," Draco objected, stepping back. Harry laughed even more. "I'm serious, Potter. I'm falling for Scorpius' papa, not you."

"This is purely physical. I never said anything about falling in love. I'd prefer it if you fell in love with his papa instead of me. The thing that's going on between us shouldn't get that far. You end up with your husband and I end up with mine."

"Right."

"This is just..."

"Electric?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You're a pureblood; you shouldn't know what electricity."

"I took Muggle Studies for a semester," Draco admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Why don't you take it? You grew up Muggle..."

"I'd rather forget that," Harry muttered, brushing Draco's cheek with his knuckles.

"You should really stop that." He was grinning.

"So, now that we've talked that through, shall we bring Scorpius back in?"

There was a playful glint in Draco's eyes. "You didn't take any of that in, did you?"

The toothy smile Harry gave him was proof enough.

-

They hadn't planned much of it, but when Severus came back with news of their whereabouts, the Order attacked.

It was questioned whether if Zabini was worth saving or not (courtesy of Ron) before Severus added that several of the Inner Circle was to be there without Voldemort present. It was a rare prize, and the temptation was too much for some of the members of the Order. The idea of having so many Death Eaters without Voldemort was just too good to overlook.

The plan was as good as it was going to get with the minimum time they had. It was a basic ambush. According to Severus, the Dark Lord had left Zabini with a group of Death Eaters so they could torture him in front of his own mother. He had never heard of such a ritual within the Inner Circle, but it was happening.

The way he was told it made him really wonder what was happening with the whole situation. He recalled how Voldemort sighed before issuing the order with a dismissal wave of his hand. Severus had been the one to chain the boy and deliver him to the location. The Death Eaters were already present by the time he got the boy there. That meant that he had less of a chance to be discovered. The house had also been a previous hot spot, and the Order had lined the premises with devices that went off when the area was breeched. The potions master hadn't been told of these, but the silent alarms rang within Albus' office the moment a Death Eater placed a foot within the area.

It wasn't normal of the Dark Lord's behaviour to have so many of the Inner Circle together in the one spot without him. That fact worried Severus to no end. He couldn't imagine what was actually going on.

He wasn't given much of a chance to get word out to the Order. For a mere moment, he was left alone and that was all he needed. They hadn't even noticed he was gone.

Roughly half an hour later, before any of the torturing had taken place, Zabini's mother had been brought in. Mrs. Zabini shrieked in fear when she saw her son in chains against the wall the way he was. His own fearful eyes followed her as she was held down on the other side of the room, in perfect view of him.

It was Lucius Malfoy who gave the order to start the torment.

She screamed louder than Blaise did, yelling at the others to stop what they were doing. Her cries were dutifully ignored as curse after curse hit her son.

Severus often battled his inner demons regarding what he had to do. For the first time in his life, the man in him nearly won over the devil. Blaise Zabini was still his student, no matter how he looked at him. Regardless, he threw the hexes at the boy, ignoring his begging.

He could only hope the Order got there in time.

-

The moment the shield had left him, Scorpius had pouted. It took him five minutes after Harry let the Room of Requirement for his brain to catch up.

"Oh shit," he breathed, covering his mouth with his hand.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked. He was sitting on a fur rug in front of a fireplace, courtesy of the Room. Surrounding him were several books.

"What's today?"

"Thursday."

"Thursday the what?"

"The twenty-seventh."

"Oh shit," Scorpius repeated. "This battle isn't supposed to happen this early. Things are five days early...what if...what if he doesn't come back..."

His father moved over to him as quickly as he could, hearing the laboured breathing coming from the other boy. "It's okay. He'll come back. He promised me he would." He wrapped his arms around his son, worried for him now that he was shaking. "It's okay, Scorp. Potter's not going to die so easily...I've tried on more than one occasion to get him into serious trouble and he always avoids it."

Scorpius shook his head. "He's human. No matter what everyone seems to think of him, he's still a teenager who's being thrown into these things. He's not immortal, Dad. I don't want him to die..."

"He's not going to," Draco reiterated.

-

Mrs. Zabini wouldn't stop screaming for the torture to end. She hated to see her son going through so much pain.

All too happily, the Death Eaters used spells to increase the volume of his cries, grinning sadistically back at her.

Severus's eyes found the one man who removed his mask. He saw the younger version of this face on a daily basis.

Theodore Nott Senior had spent a few months in Azkaban and since then, he had gotten more and more violent. The killings he conducted involved a lot of pain and blood. He enjoyed torturing innocent Muggles, often bragging about how much they screamed when Voldemort summoned him. The widower smirked back at Mrs. Zabini before he turned back to Blaise. The other Death Eaters fell silent, having been present to one or more of his attacks.

From deep within his robes, he pulled out a kris, dirtied from previous and several victims. Despite Blaise's beaten, bloodied and broken body, he still managed to cringe and tried to move away from the older wizard. He struggled against the chains right up until Nott was before him.

"Get away from my son!" Mrs. Zabini hissed out but was pushed back into place by the Death Eaters around her.

"Hold him still," Nott ordered, cocking his head towards Blaise. The boy tried to fight against the hands that grabbed him but had no effect on them. He was far too weak from blood loss and the pain of far too many Cruciatus Curses to make any difference.

They pinned him easily, giving him up to the widower. He unchained Blaise's arms, forcing one under a Death Eater's knee and the other under his own.

"Be sure your mother hears you," Nott whispered to him before he lowered the kris to Blaise's wrist.

Severus nearly looked away, holding back Mrs. Zabini, and felt his stomach curl at Blaise's scream. He was shielded from seeing what was happening, but hid his revulsion as Nott threw the boy's hand to his right. Mrs. Zabini shrieked again at the sight, her tears cascading down her face.

There was an urge to punch the man to Severus' own right as Lucius Malfoy positioned himself in front of the distressed mother. "This is what you get for being a whore," he hissed, snatching up her chin in his hand. "Our Lord is forever taken; his lover wanted you to suffer. Your inability to keep you legs shut caused this." He leant in close to whisper to her. "_You killed your son_."

He let her face go, turning to see what else was happening. Several of the Death Eaters backed off, seeing the Dark Lord's snake head towards the hand on the floor. Her gaping jaws took it in without a problem before she slithered back again into the dark shadows.

Another cry from Blaise assaulted their ears and his other hand was thrown to Nagini.

Mrs. Zabini had hit hysteria; the words she babbled made no sense.

Blaise didn't have the strength in him to vocalise his pain as his left shin was removed by Nott and his deadly kris.

"Remove it of its clothes before you give it to her," Malfoy ordered and Nott handed the limb to a nearby Death Eater. He barely removed his mask before he vomited. Another stole the leg from him, ripping the pants leg, the shoe and the sock off. Seemingly honoured, he walked right up to the snake to hand feed her.

His own shocked cry alerted the Death Eaters to the face that they weren't supposed to go near Nagini. He dropped the leg, holding his right arm, trying to stop the blood flowing from the two puncture wounds she left behind.

"Moron," Malfoy snapped while Nott snickered to himself. "Nagini has altered venom; you're dead in a few minutes."

The obviously younger Death Eater ran to the closest door and left the room.

-

The Aurors were swift in their arrival, taking Harry alongside them. He hadn't had time to get his licence and was forced to side-Aparate with Remus to the location Severus had informed them of. He hoped (for Draco's sake more than anything) that Zabini was still alive and in a good enough condition to bring home. He also hoped that Severus was right with his information. Although he had improved with his skills, Harry was certain he wasn't yet good enough to defeat Voldemort.

Moody led the pack of them through the house. It was easy to tell where they were-the screaming certainly helped.

There was no trouble to begin with. The first floor was completely clear of all Death Eaters. They made sure they checked the whole first floor to make sure they wouldn't have any surprise attacks from the front. Tonks quickly blocked the floo to prevent any other guests from arriving that way.

Going up the stairs to the second floor gave them an issue. The wood creaked under their every step and was sure to alert someone of their presence. Harry (though he felt quite disturbed for these thoughts) was glad that Zabini was screaming so loudly. He was certain to drown out the noise of their arrival.

Moody still stayed in front, hissing out oaths as he ran into the first Death Eater of the night. The man was dead, in the middle of rapid decay as something vile ate away at his skin. His mask was held in his left hand-the majority of his right hand and arm was missing. Whatever it was that had done this to him had eaten away the skin of his hands and his face from what they could see.

"Madigan," Moody muttered, barely able to identify the bastard. "Light on our radar, but there. It looks like Voldemort's snake got him."

His words were quiet and without any sorrow.

"Mister Weasley..." Harry started, remembering the time Arthur was attacked by Nagini.

"You-Know-Who has altered her venom. It's acidic to flesh now," Tonks briefed him quickly. "Looks like you'll have to be extra careful, Harry."

Harry nodded his head before they continued, wands at the ready.

They got closer and closer to the room where the door was opened slightly. Harry peeked in to the best of his abilities just in time to see Zabini's other leg being thrown across the room. He felt his stomach churn at the sight.

Blood covered that side of the room. It was over the wall, the floor and the ceiling. It wasn't hard to imagine how it got there, not with the way that man was flinging the limbs.

"Zabini's not coming home with us," Harry breathed weakly. Remus looked over his shoulder before he pulled him back.

"How many did you see?"

"There are about five huddled in one corner...I didn't see the rest."

The oldest of them all was about to get into a strategy, but was rudely cut short. A Death Eater had taken to the door, wrenching it open with shaking hands before he was sick at the door jam. When his eyes rose, he found himself staring at several wands.

Without thinking, someone Stunned the man, which set off the entire squad of Death Eaters. One pop was heard over the hustle before the door swung completely open.

Spells, hexes and curses flew from both sides of the doorway with the Order members spreading out. The first to be taken down were the five Harry had pointed out.

Harry ducked and weaved around the green lights being shot at him. He heard the Death Eaters hiss out his name as they trained their wands at him, intent on either killing him or capturing him. Using the wordless magic to knock back their capturing attempts, Harry found it much easier to take them by surprise. The few Death Eaters were overpowered easily, though most Aparated away once they were defeated to prevent their own capture.

The Death Eaters were careless with their attack, using the Avada Kedavra every chance they got. Harry saw the only mask-less Death Eater fall to his own comrade through the curse.

Harry tried his hardest to locate the familiar cane of Lucius Malfoy, but found himself thoroughly disappointed. It was then that he realised who it was that Aparated away before the second spell was cast.

Once the barrage of spells ceased and all the uncaptured Death Eater Aparated from the scene, the Order was left with the unconscious and the mother and her child.

Mrs. Zabini had crawled over to the mutilated boy on the other side of the room the moment she had been released. Her ramblings continued as she rocked back and forth, cradling her son's mutilated body to her bosom. It was as if she didn't notice the handle of the kris protruding from her son's chest.

-

They had all returned safely, Harry realised with a heavy sigh. Someone had received a Cruciatus, but that was as extreme as the injuries were. He shook his head ruefully. The sight of Zabini's body had made him physically ill. The first thing he did when he got back to Gryffindor Tower was empty his stomach of whatever it had inside it. And then the thought struck him-he had to tell Draco that this had happened and that he couldn't save Zabini the way he wanted.

His body wasn't brought back with them. Mrs. Zabini hadn't broken free from her son. She didn't want the Order members anywhere near him. She blamed them for what had happened.

Although he wouldn't admit it, he was slightly worried for Severus. The man had no way of contacting them if he was caught in the crossfire like Nott Senior had been (Harry was later told by Moody just who that man was).

The second stop (and possibly final stop) of the night was to the Room of Requirement. He had to get to Draco and Scorpius before the night was through. The doors immediately let him in and he felt his own heart skip a beat.

In the middle of the room was a large, four poster bed. Scorpius was curled up under the blankets with his head resting in Draco's lap as Draco read to him in the softest voice Harry had ever heard.

Draco's eyes turned up towards the door, watching Harry's entrance. His reading haltered as he let off a relieved sigh, though his breath caught. The clothes Harry wore were splattered with blood, but he couldn't see any wounds from where he was.

"You're alright?"

Harry approached the bed, kneeling on the mattress before he sat up with Draco on the pillows. Scorpius was sleeping soundly, but had obviously had trouble getting to that state.

He stirred when Harry ran a hand through his hair.

"Papa?" he muttered, his hand grabbing at Harry's shirt. Draco put the book down before he leant over, resting his head on Harry's shoulder.

"All that blood...you promised..."

"None of it is mine," Harry whispered, nuzzling Draco's hair.

"Blaise?"

Before Harry could answer, Scorpius rustled against his dad's hip, stirring awake.

In his sleepy haze, he murmured. "Papa?" He pushed himself up on his arms, slowly waking to the fact that both Draco and Harry were there. "You're back." He blinked quickly. "And-and you're covered in blood. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry told him, ruffling his hair. "It's just as you said."

He couldn't help but smile as Draco pulled the blankets up Harry's legs. It was almost like a silent invite into their family.

Harry kissed Draco's cheek, pushing his hand through Scorpius' hair.

The more time he spent with the two of them, the more he felt like this was a family. He didn't know much about families and what they were supposed to feel like, but the warmth he got in his tummy had to be the real thing. It just had to be.

That forced him to realise yet again that he wasn't meant to be in that family. Whoever was Scorpius' papa was to fill his spot.

Draco curled up next to Harry, almost as if he had read the teen's thoughts. He couldn't deny it; although he mightn't have a permanent spot in that family, he certainly enjoyed his time with them and wouldn't change it for the world.

"Did you get hurt?" Draco asked, completely resting his body on Harry's.

"Too bad if I did," Harry chuckled, wrapping his arm around Draco's body. "You would have crushed me by now."

Draco smiled at the taller boy, settling himself comfortably in his arms.

"Not a scratch?"

Harry grinned, burying his face in Draco's neck. "I don't recall any injuries."

"How about everyone else?"

"Everyone in the Order got back just fine," Harry informed him. "We caught a few Death Eaters..." He felt Draco stiffen next to him. "It's fine, if you're concerned about your father."

The blonde turned his face away. "Why would I be concerned about him? It's not like he would have been there or anything."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at his dad's blatant lie

"You're not convincing anyone, Dad." Scorpius crawled up, stretching his body along both Harry and Draco's legs.

Harry's arm tightened around Draco's waist. "We need to talk."

"Regarding the blood on your clothes?" Draco asked with a questioning look on his face.

-

Black eyes darted up as Severus heard the door to his private room open up.

"Someone got you," Remus observed, looking at the man he knew to be his future husband.

"I got him back," Severus told him with a smirk. He was sitting on the edge of his bathtub, looking at his reflection as he applied lotions to his facial wounds.

"Is there anything worse than this?" Remus stepped up close to him, bending to examine the scratches covering his face.

"Just a few grazes."

The werewolf took the balm from Severus' hand. He took over the tending of the wounds. "Did you make this?"

"Are you trying to make a conversation?" Severus countered.

"I thought it'd be less awkward if we actually talked to each other, rather than me just putting my hands all over your body in silence."

Severus cocked his eyebrow at Remus. "Who's to say you'll be doing that?"

He received a toothy grin. "I'm sure there'll be some grazes you can't reach." His fingers moved over the scratch on Severus' upper cheek. "How the hell did you get so many of these? Shirt off."

At first, the potions master argued, but lost the battle, figuring it was much less of a bother to fight with a werewolf so soon after a full moon.

"What the hell happened to you?" Remus asked, looking at the injury to his left side. "Did someone throw you out of a moving train or something?"

The abrasion started just under his ribs and moved down as far as Remus could see.

"I'm certain Moody did this one."

Remus knelt next to him, scooping out the cold gel to apply it to the broken skin. Severus flinched slightly, hissing at the contact. He felt Severus' hand sifting through his hair and had to stop himself from smiling too much at the open show of affection.

The hand moved down to cup Remus' jaw. His face was lifted slightly before Severus claimed his lips in a soft kiss. When he pulled away, Remus looked down bashfully, suddenly shy with the taller man.

"I'm glad you're not hurt," Severus muttered honestly.

Blush spread over Remus' face, so he focused more on the wound than what Severus was saying.

"How far does this thing go?" Remus demanded, looking at how the scratch went past Severus' pants line. He pushed the material down, finding no end to the abrasion.

"Not much further," Severus informed him, eyeing the other man. He tipped Remus' face to his again, kissing him deeply.

"You're injured," Remus objected, pulling away. He blushed even harder when he realised how low he had forced Severus' pants down. "I'm sorry."

"You were moments away from turning into a wolf and you were insisting we had sex."

He had a point.

"That's different though...I wasn't bleeding everywhere like you are."

"I'm not bleeding anywhere," Severus smirked, shifting forward to press his face into Remus' neck. "I want you."

Remus was shocked by Severus' wanton words, but shuddered as he felt those lips attack his skin. He couldn't help but pull the Slytherin close to his body, wrapping his arms around Severus' shoulders. Severus stood swiftly, dragging Remus' up with him and out of the bathroom.

The werewolf was quickly led to the bed. He couldn't help but grin when he fell back, pulling Severus along with him.

-

Draco had sent Scorpius off to bed. He had a feeling it wouldn't be good for the young boy to hear what Harry had to tell him.

They curled up on the fur rug before the raging fire together as chastely as they possibly could. Harry spooned Draco tightly, who used Harry's arm as a pillow.

"I'm guessing Blaise is dead."

"He was brutally tortured," Harry admitted, kissing Draco's neck lightly. "We didn't make it in time."

"I wanted him to survive..."

"After what they did to him, he's better off dead." Draco cringed. "Both Zabini and Nott Senior were killed by the Death Eaters..."

"Mister Nott? Why would he be killed by Death Eaters?"

"We reckon he was caught in the crossfire. It was he who did all that to Zabini though. And his mother was forced to watch the whole thing."

Draco turned around in Harry's arms and kissed the brunette soundly. "I don't want to go to bed just yet."

"Then I suggest we play chess or something..."

-

**Is done! Another chapter finished and everyone's getting nice and close. Poor Blaise, but I had so much fun doing that...it's been a very long time since I've physically tortured anyone in a fic...**

**I can has reviews...? **

**I'll see you all next Friday.**


	10. Chapter Ten: Coeus

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Okay, general consensus is that no one liked me killing off Blaise that way...oops...**

**Smaradgus: Yeah, I noticed it lacks energy in some places...generally, since I have to have the chapter written within the week (I **_**REFUSE**_** to post my chapters any later than a week) I basically have to go by whatever I'm feeling at the moment. If I'm out of energy, like I normally am for the last half of the chapter, it'll be a bit that way...sorry about that.**

**DG: Sorry, I'm using your sig, but I'm sick of Word and I'm not going to give it another thing to complain about...sorry if I made you feel ill...I swear, that's the last...**_**second last**_** gory bit...**

**Ragnarok45: I has a reevyew... noms reevyew I didn't even think about Sev killing Nott to be honest...good idea, though...XD And yeah, that song goes really well with them.**

**Oh, and I'm sorry to all who got over excited about the whole 'Papa twice' thing...yes, you do get away with anything when you're pretending to sleep...so many reviews to answer today...! So little time...! **

**Sorry to all who I didn't reply to...I wanna get this chapter up before Friday is over...(is 10:51 pm).**

**Enjoy!**

-

**Chapter Ten: Coeus, Greek God of Intelligence**

-

_It came on my eleventh birthday just as it comes to all Hogwarts-bound children. I was so excited when I finally got my acceptance letter. I had spent so many years at a Muggle school and now I could go to the same school as Rose. _

_Papa took it from me. He told me that I could never go to Hogwarts. I'd be too easily recognised. He didn't want me to get hurt, but I wanted to be happy. I didn't want the Muggle life. I was accepted as a student to Hogwarts, just as I always would have been, and I would have made a damn good wizard._

_But Papa's word was final. He and Dad fought about this a lot, and in this case, he wasn't going to change his mind. Not for anything._

-

They woke up in pain. There was just something wrong with sleeping on the floor. The results were never good. Harry stretched out his overly cramped limbs, trying to get sensation back into his right arm, which was pinned under something. His eyes struggled to open, though he could feel his glasses still against his head. That was also one of the worst things about sleeping elsewhere. You generally lose your glasses or sleep with them on, bending them out of shape or causing some severe pain to your head.

When his eyelids finally unstuck themselves, Harry found himself staring at the familiar platinum blonde that was Draco Malfoy's hair. The Slytherin was moving, too, having been what had woken Harry.

"Morning," Harry grunted, his throat dry.

Draco just turned around, wrapping himself around Harry's body. Neither cared that Harry's clothes were still stained with Draco's ex's blood.

"We have class soon," Harry objected. "Potions, remember?"

"I wanna sleep more," Draco grumbled, burying his head in Harry's chest. "Slept like shit last night...bloody floor..."

There was laughter from the huge bed off in the distance. "Morning you guys. I think that's the best I've ever slept before."

The two groaned before Harry sat up. "Thanks for that, Scorpius."

He finally realised the effect of another's blood on his clothes. "I need a shower..."

-

It surely surprised them that Severus didn't show up for class at all. Even Ron was on time that morning, and yet Severus was missing. Draco was the first to fret over the fact, whereas the Gryffindors left for their common room. Harry was included as he gave Draco a very inconspicuous wave as he left. Draco went in the other direction, heading for Severus' quarters. On his way, he noticed that Nott was missing also. He meticulously turned the corners he had memorised very early on in his first year, having been to Severus' quarters several times.

He tried not to think about the previous night. There were so many people he was concerned about. Firstly, Blaise was gone. They had been lovers, and now, he was dead. It took forever to sink in, and after an hour of chess with Potter, he had broken down, forcing the other to hold him tightly as he tried to hold the tears back.

Secondly, there was Severus. Draco was well aware of Severus' past with the Death Eaters, and was certain that he was still a member. He was unsure if the rumours of him being a spy for the Order were true or not and that bothered him. The last thing he really wanted was for Severus to be a Death Eater. The man was too great of a man to be wasted like that. Thinking on it that way, though, he realised that it was highly unlikely that he would have been. Knowing himself, he never would have trusted Scorpius with a suspected Death Eater without knowing the whole story.

The third issue was the Nott family. Theodore Nott had been missing in the line waiting for Severus to show up. His father had been killed by the Death Eaters in the crossfire of curses during the raid.

Lastly, Scorpius had said something that really confused him. He had called Potter his 'papa'. Twice. That bothered him; had his stomach in knots. The name had just slipped from his mouth in his sleepy haze, but _surely_ they shouldn't have. He felt his cheeks burn at the thought. Harry Potter was just not a compatible mate. Plain and simple.

But damn Merlin, that boy could kiss. Draco burned every time Potter touched him and melted whenever their lips connected. It probably shouldn't have ever been admitted (be it in Draco's mind or spoken), but it couldn't really be hidden from.

However, hiding from it was just what Draco did as he knocked on Severus' door. When he got no answer, he used the password he was personally told by Severus. He entered, but almost stopped walking. There was something different about the room. Looking over the room, he spotted a set of robes that didn't belong. An eyebrow rose at the oddity before Draco continued through to Severus' own bedroom. He paused, seeing a sight he had never imagined possible.

Severus was still in bed, sleeping, but Remus Lupin was attached to his side, resting his head on Severus' _naked_ shoulder and _naked_ chest.

He couldn't stop his vocal reaction. The slightest of squeaks left his throat without his permission. He slapped a hand over his mouth as Severus' eyes snapped open to glare at him, reaching for his wand on the bedside table. The actions awoke the werewolf, who had the same reaction, though he was disorientated at first.

"Mister Malfoy?" Remus asked, blinking against the artificial light in the room. He lowered his head back down to Severus' chest before he realised what was going on. His face burned and he tried to turn his head out of view.

"What are you doing here?" Severus demanded, shifting slightly as if to accommodate his lover.

"You're sleeping with _him_?"

Severus let Remus slip away from him, turning away to grab at the clothes by the bed. "It's no different from your relationship with Potter," he responded.

Remus froze, his hand clamped around his pants before he straightened up. "Harry never mentioned this..."

"I'm not sleeping with him...we're just...I don't know...but I'm..." Draco lost his words. "I suppose it depends on how you define _sleeping with_...that doesn't matter...he'sa _werewolf._.."

"What are you doing here?" Severus repeated, reaching for his own clothes. He felt a glare settle on his body as Draco's eyes lingered on the Dark Mark on Severus' arm.

"You missed class." It was half spoken, as if he was thinking on other things.

Severus quickly cast a spell to check the time before he sighed heavily. For the first time since he had started teaching at Hogwarts, he had missed a class.

"Shit," Remus hissed from beside him. "I have first years in fifteen minutes."

He was ignored. "Are you a spy, Severus?" Draco asked, turning around as Severus sat up. He heard the pause in the rustling.

"Why would you ask something like that?" Severus questioned, slipping into a pair of pants now that Draco was facing away from them. Remus did the same.

"I trust you so much with Scorpius, according to him, and I would never trust a Death Eater with my kid."

"You know I was a Death Eater long before you were born?"

"Of course I know that."

Severus' eyes watched as Draco's hand ran up his own left forearm. "You were never marked, were you?"

"I was down to do it a month ago. Scorpius changed that." More clothes were thrown on. "Father hasn't spoken to me since..."

"He hasn't mentioned you to the Dark Lord, either," Severus mused. There was a pause, as if he was considering his next words with Remus without actually speaking. "Yes, I am a spy for the Order."

Draco's knees nearly buckled. The man he trusted implacably was a traitor to everything he ever knew. If he wanted to, Severus could condemn the Malfoy family. He knew all there was to know about the Inner Circle and the Death Eaters.

"I have been for years now."

"Were you there last night?"

"Yes."

The breath escaping his throat got caught and he choked. "Was-was my father?"

"He Apparated away before the Order could attack."

"Did he kill Blaise?"

Revulsion lined Severus' words. He was clearly disgusted by what had happened to the boy. "No. He never touched him. His job was to punish the mother. He would tell her things about the Dark Lord and his _love life_. Your father told her over and over again that it was her fault that it happened to Blaise."

Draco shuddered visibly. His own father had done that...he was nearly ill. He turned quickly, trying to stop the tears from welling up. "You were there...! You could have stopped it. You're strong enough to do that..."

"I was under specific orders, Draco," Severus sighed, meeting Draco's gaze. "I have to maintain my image as a Death Eater..."

"Did you torture him? _Kill_ him?"

The eye contact broke and Severus shrugged off Remus' hand as he offered his support. "I hexed him. If I hadn't, they would have gotten suspicious."

It took all of Draco's willpower not to hit his idol. "How could you just do that? He's only just older than me...he was your student..."

"I'm well aware of that, Draco." The potion master's voice had gotten weaker. He wasn't coping well at all. "I'll forever be ashamed of what I'm forced to do as a Death Eater, but in the end, we'll win."

"And how many more of my friends will you have to kill in the meantime? How many innocent teens will get sacrificed?"

"That's enough," Remus interrupted, watching the argument. "Severus had a hard enough time sleeping last night. He has been sacrificing his humanity since before you could walk. He has done some despicable things under the orders of both Voldemort (Draco's shudder was ignored) and Dumbledore. We can only hope it'll work out alright..."

"His defeat won't bring Blaise back," Draco objected. He turned his entire attention to Severus. "You need to get out of this. It's not right. We don't need a spy..."

Severus reached into the top drawer of his bedside table and pulled out a headache potion with an automatic response. It was downed in a moment before Severus motioned for Draco to leave. "We have nothing else to talk about."

"_What_?"

"You heard me. Horrible things happened last night and none of them can be changed, regardless to what we want. Blaise Zabini is dead and there is nothing we can do about it. I'll be a spy up until the Dark Lord is overthrown. I mightn't be able to stop much, but the information I can pass on to the Order is enough to keep them on their toes," Severus explained. "Besides, we need this info, and I would never wish it upon anyone else." He threw a hand through his hair as he tried to make himself look a little more presentable, but it was thoroughly messed courtesy of the night he had had.

"I have to get to class," Remus sighed, walking around to the door. Before he passed Severus, the taller man grabbed him and pulled him into his arms. They shared a quick kiss before he let him go.

Draco raised his eyebrow again. "Come to think of it, I thought you were practically engaged to my cousin."

"Ask your son about that one." There was a light grin to Remus' face as he left.

-

Harry came to the realisation much later than Draco did. Actually, he had been in class with McGonagall when it happened. When they finally managed to return Hedwig to her natural form, the snowy owl was _not_ pleased.

"Sorry girl," Harry apologised, stroking her feathers as tenderly as he could, only to have his fingers nipped at.

"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked, watching as McGonagall stalked away with a dark glare. She wasn't amused by Harry's simple mistake.

"I just lost my concentration, that's all. It's a little expected after what happened last night."

It was a good enough excuse. The last thing he really needed was for the others to hear about Malfoy and Scorpius. The thought got stuck in his head, though. Scorpius had really referred to him as his papa...

"Anyone else notice that this is our third class today that Nott's missed?" Ron asked, a small smirk on his face. "He's probably being briefed over how sick his father really is."

"That's completely inappropriate, Ron," Hermione snapped in a whisper. "You got the day off when your father was attacked. His father was _killed_."

Ron rolled his eyes dramatically. "There's a big difference between my dad and his dad. Mine is a good guy...his deserves to die."

"That's disgusting, Ron," Harry replied thoroughly annoyed with the other boy's attitude. "Nobody deserves to die, regardless of what they do."

A red eyebrow raised at Harry's claim. "You-Know-Who doesn't deserve death after what he's done to so many people?"

"I'd prefer a slow death for him. Torture would be appropriate."

"I can't believe they did that to Zabini," Hermione breathed, shocked over the details she had been given. To have done that to a faithful future member of your cause was beyond wrong. It surpassed anything Voldemort had done before.

"It was all because his _snake_ didn't like Zabini's mother trying to add Voldemort to her long list,' Harry grumbled, pretending focus as McGonagall passed them again.

Hermione performed the task with ease, causing the professor to continue on her way. She faked helping Ron until they were in the clear.

"What's up with that?" Ron asked, settling his wand down for what had to be the eleventh time so far in the period. "I mean, is he doing strange things with that snake or something?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Harry admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "You don't have to work on rockets to understand that guy's seriously screwed up in the head."

Hermione nodded her head while Ron looked utterly confused. "Rockets? You mean like Fred and George? You need the slightest of IQs to get them going..."

"Never mind...Muggle terms, Ron," Hermione smiled.

There was a loud pop behind them, signalling Neville's inevitable mistake.

Everyone turned, almost curious to see what Neville had managed to create this time, but Harry paused. As usual, he found those grey eyes staring back at him, attracted to the movement. He knew he had started to blush; he could feel his face burning as Scorpius' words assaulted him. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Malfoy seemed to catch on to his thoughts. His own pale face was tinged pink, obviously thinking over Scorpius' words. That just made Harry's face darken more when he realised just how gorgeous the blonde teen was when he blushed.

Reality came crashing back around him when he felt Hermione push him subtly.

"Work. We really don't want to get into another fight."

Harry nodded his head, returning his attention to Hedwig. He nearly grinned as she took a few steps backward from his desk, not too sure she wanted him to use her again.

"Sorry," he repeated to his most faithful. That caught something in his brain. "What if the snake's an Animagus?"

"There aren't very many registered snake Animagus, Harry," Hermione told him, recalling going through the records earlier. She had been given all the data she could have wanted from Tonks. "Then again, they don't have to be registered to be one."

"Of course they don't...maybe she really is his lover..."

"Why keep her as a snake then? That's far too..."

She stopped at Harry's raised eyebrow. "_Nothing's_ too farfetched for that monster," Harry reminded her.

Harry lifted his wand and cast the spell on Hedwig. He was pleasantly surprised to see her turn into a letter opener before he returned her to her usual form. "Good girl," he cooed, stroking her again. She nipped at him more lovingly, letting him know that she hadn't been in any pain.

The classes were becoming more and more important to Harry. The letter opener was as close to a weapon as they were going to get, but each time, he was taught something that he could use in the final battle. McGonagall was teaching him how to make weapons from anything around him. Flitwick taught him how to use his surroundings against the enemy-he could now enchant a medium sized object to fly towards anything at a deadly pace. If he were to add those skills to these new weapons he was creating, he could cause some damage to anyone against him. Snape hadn't really gotten around to teaching him anything of any use. There was the occasional healing potion, but that was it.

There was little hustle behind him as Neville tried to stop his letter opener from jumping out of the room, but it was ignored thanks to Hermione's constant nudges. She was keeping him in line as much as she possibly could since no one else was really interested in the idea.

Malfoy didn't help things either. And Scorpius was just as bad.

He must have gotten a far off look or something, because Hermione's elbow found his ribs again, rather harshly, he might add.

"Sorry..." he muttered stupidly. "But I got it before...did you see it?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you get to slack off. It also doesn't mean that you get to start daydreaming about Malfoy, either."

"I-I wasn't daydreaming about him or anyone else...I wasn't daydreaming at all...!"

"Sure."

"And even if I was, it wouldn't have been about him..."

"Where were you last night?" Hermione interrupted, smirking almost like a Slytherin.

Harry's eyes mockingly narrowed before he poked her in her forehead. "You're not a Gryffindor, you know that?"

"So what happened between the two of you?"

"This is where I curse myself for having a girl as one of my closest friends," Harry grumbled, casting the spell successfully on Hedwig before changing her back again. "You all like to gossip too much."

"Ron told me that you two have kissed."

Harry couldn't stop his smile, no matter how much he tried. "Yeah, a few times."

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"We're not really anything, actually," Harry tried to explain. "It's more like...we're physically attracted to each other, and that's it. I mean, it was you who said that he was a long way off from being a decent human being, right? His personality is horrible, and he probably thinks the same way for me. We're just kinda...physically together, I suppose."

"So you've slept with him?"

"We've fallen asleep together, nothing more. It's nothing scandalous...just a lot of kissing..."

He ran a hand through his hair, thinking of how he sounded. The great Harry Potter getting himself involved with Draco Malfoy, son of convicted Death Eater without any emotional basis was _overly_ scandalous when you thought of it. The look Hermione was giving him told him that she was having the same thoughts.

"Okay, so maybe it's a little scandalous, but _damn_ he's good at kissing."

That had her laughing. "Good luck with that. Maybe you might replace Scorpius' papa, hmm?"

"Speaking of which, what were you two talking about when you took him into the Room of Requirement?"

She grinned. "What's it to you? Scorpius and I were having a nice little chat. I'm sure I'm eligible for something as simple as that since I'm his godmother."

"Mister Potter, Miss Granger." The two snapped their heads up to see Minerva bearing over them. "Is the task too hard for you two?"

"No, Professor," Harry instantly objected, grabbing up his wand again. He was shocked to see that Hedwig had disappeared on him.

"Your owl flew out of the room minutes ago, Potter," Minerva told him. "Even your loyal pet has given up on you. Ten points from Gryffindor _each_ for slacking off. I expected better, Miss Granger."

"Yes Professor," Hermione sighed, transfiguring Crookshanks easily. The imitation tiger had been snoozing on the desk and was rudely awakened by the spell, appearing to be not so happy with Hermione when she returned him back to normal.

He could hear snickering to his left and turned to see Malfoy eyeing him. Harry sent him the bird with a smirk of his own as Draco replied with mock pain. The joke was over when a Slytherin threw a piece of balled up parchment at Draco's head. They all hissed out their insults to him under their breaths.

-

The glare he received wasn't as bad as he thought it would have been as he passed Nott on the way to Albus' office. The other teen barely registered Harry as he continued walking, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head hung low.

Harry had been called up to Albus' office just as he finished class for the day. He was meant to be at Quidditch practise, but Ron had been very understanding (after he ranted to Harry about Dumbledore getting in the way of everything that could actually make Harry's teen years worth living).

He suspected it had everything to do with the night before, even though he had asked the adults about the incident and had suggested that Harry got to bed. The old coot probably wanted to skewer Harry's brain more about his battling skills.

Harry hadn't lied when he had admitted to Scorpius that he was wary about the old wizard. There was something about him that he didn't like. It could be the secrets, it could be the way he's so willing to throw a seventeen-year-old into the middle of a battleground against a much more experienced wizard. Either way, he certainly knew how to screw Harry over.

Speaking the password, Harry was granted access to the office he was unfortunately so acquainted with.

Sitting in the middle of the room was Albus, behind his desk, appearing to be doing absolutely no work, as per usual. From what Harry had seen of the man, there wasn't very much one had to do when being the headmaster of Hogwarts. Sure, organising an army was high up on the priority list, but anything actually regarding the school always seemed to be missing from Albus' agenda.

"Harry," Albus greeted. "Lemon drop?"

"No thanks," Harry declined, as usual.

"I heard last night was...interesting."

"Disturbing is a better adjective."

He played with his silver beard for a moment before offering Harry a seat. The teen took it, knowing that anything said in this office was never good.

"On to business, I suppose. I know how everything happened last night, so I'm not going to ask you about it. It sounds too horrible to ask someone so inexperienced in the matter to relive it. No, today I'm after information on Scorpius Malfoy."

Harry felt the colour drain from his face. He was worried the old man would start on Scorpius, and felt a sting in the bottom of his belly. The last thing he wanted was to sell Scorpius and his abilities to this fool.

"He's an important part of the war now..."

"Malfoy and I have agreed that Scorpius is never allowed to see the battlefield," Harry interrupted solidly. "He's much too young and too inexperienced. He can barely cast a Stupefy spell, let alone anything of any substance. His talents lie purely in potion making."

"I'm well aware of that. We've had a chat before and he told me that he was never a student of Hogwarts and that his 'papa' refused to allow him lessons in defending himself." He looked at Harry from over his glasses. "However, I can't help but feel he can be a real asset..."

"No." Harry stood. "Scorpius isn't a toy you can play with. He's gone through too much. We're not putting him through this as well."

"Harry, Scorpius was controlled by his father too much. Don't you think you and Mister Malfoy are doing the same? He said he missed out on being happy because his papa was too insistent on having him safe."

"You're not exactly a father, are you?" Harry nearly snapped. "You can't possibly know what it's like to want your child's safety."

He didn't even recognise what he was saying until Albus smirked at him. "Is that so, Harry? Last I checked, you were without children, yourself."

He flushed at his mistake, trying to figure out what it was that made him react like that and say those things. Of course he didn't have and children, so how the hell would he know who these things felt? When he looked back at Albus, he was attacked by those all-knowing, twinkling blue eyes.

"I should probably go. You know my opinion on this," Harry muttered, turning towards the door.

-

"Why did you call him your papa last night?" Draco asked Scorpius, handing him a mug of hot chocolate. The boy had a sweet tooth and it was ever present in the colder weather.

Scorpius froze for a moment. He had thought this one in his head over and over again as he tried to find a logical (and a plausible) reason for calling Harry his papa _twice_. It was moments like these that he thanked that his dad was the Slytherin Ice Prince.

"Papa used to come back after missions and curl up in bed with me. It just felt like that was happening all over again, I suppose."

"Your papa went out on missions like that?" Draco asked, sitting on the couch beside Scorpius.

"Yeah. He was one hell of a fighter for the Order. He was brilliant. I guess that's one of the things you love about him." His grin was wide as he spoke lovingly about his papa. "So last night, I wasn't insinuating in any way that Harry Potter is my papa. It just slipped out because I was so exhausted."

"Slipped twice."

The reminder nearly had him wincing. "_Really_ exhausted."

They were in the Room of Requirement, using it as often as they possibly could. It was great, allowing them whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, and Potter was never threatened for being in the area, like he usually was if they were in Scorpius' room.

Draco smiled at his son. "Tell me more about your papa..."

"I've told you all I can tell you..!"

"Then tell me again."

"You're a helpless romantic, you know that?"

They both jolted up as they heard the door open.

Draco's reaction was instinctual; his wand was drawn in a matter of seconds and pointed towards whoever it was.

Theodore Nott paused, his hand on the doorhandle as he looked at the two of them.

"Malfoy?" he gasped, his eyes dodging between the two, taking in the similarities. "What the hell is going on?"

Before Draco could do anything with his wand, Scorpius was between them. "Dad, I grew up with him in my life...he's not a bad guy..."

"Scorpius, didn't you hear Potter telling us what happened last night...his father tortured Blaise..."

"Shut up!" Nott demanded, his own wand pointed at Draco before he focused it on Scorpius. The very threat had Draco lowering his wand in defeat.

"Don't do anything to him." Draco threw his wand towards Nott. "He's defenceless. He doesn't even have a wand."

"What is he?"

Scorpius smiled as he turned around to face Theo. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy. I'm fifteen years old, son to Draco Malfoy and some man I can't identify for my own future's sake. My dad and my papa have me in ten years. In twenty years, we lose the war."

"What are you talking about?" Nott hissed, his wand pointed straight at Scorpius' head.

The more he looked at the kid, the more he wanted to believe him. There was something going on in his stomach that had him believing that _whatever_ this person was, he was important. He felt his stomach drop when he saw those eyes staring back at him.

"Why are you here?" Scorpius asked. "Why did you come to see my dad so soon after your own father was killed by the Death Eaters?" The wand faltered. "This happened in my time. You came to my dad the day after your father was killed."

Nott dropped his wand to the floor and a tear followed. Draco moved.

He caught the other teen in his arms as Nott cried silently, shaking and sobbing over the loss of his last family member.

-

Harry froze when he opened the door. There, in Malfoy's arms, was Nott. His mouth went dry. Those arms weren't meant to be around the taller boy. No. They were never meant to be around anyone other than himself and Scorpius. His stomach swirled. His head got fuzzy. Sensations akin to what it was like to see Cho and Cedric fought with his logic.

He was _jealous_ and he hated it.

"Get off him," he demanded, his wand aimed at Nott's back. "Get off him and away from him right now."

"Potter," Draco hissed angrily, refusing to let go of Nott. "He's in need."

"You're a Slytherin; you don't do that sympathy stuff. He can go find another shoulder to cry on."

Nott straightened up with a glare to Harry as he turned.

Scorpius got in the way again. "Harry, this is meant to happen," he argued, grabbing Harry by the elbow. He led his papa to the other side of the room.

"This is endangering you and your dad," Harry replied, watching over his shoulder. "He shouldn't know about you. He could turn you over in a second...we should erase his memories and be done with him."

"It's okay." Scorpius had a tender look on his face and it froze Harry's insides completely.

"O-oh." He couldn't catch the stutter.

"Theodore plays a big part in my life and I hate seeing him this way. Dad always managed to make him feel better, or at least, that's what Papa told me. Dad and Theo were very important to each other."

Harry didn't even notice the smirk Scorpius had on his face. "You-you're alright with him knowing about you then?"

The blonde shrugged his shoulders. "He may as well...he's just about ready to change sides. He was never a Death Eater..."

"He tried to kill your dad not too long ago if you don't remember."

Laughter came from Scorpius. "When you see who Uncle Sev marries, you won't find this relationship too odd."

_Relationship_.

The green-eyed monster within Harry was _millimetres_ away from bursting through to the surface.

"Besides, you and my dad need all the help you can get, right? You are in the middle of a war, after all."

Harry placed his hands on his hips. "How the hell can Malfoy be that forgiving?" he asked, nearly angrily. It really burnt him to see Malfoy that damn close to another.

"Are you really gonna get in the way of it?" Scorpius questioned slyly.

He watched as Harry's face flushed darkly before he went up and separated the two of them, demanding Malfoy tutored him as was their agreement.

-

**Sorry it's a little boring...and short...again...**

**But we have big things coming up in the next chapter...! Draco becomes not-so-ignorant soon!!**

**Review me please? I gives you good stuffs...! The fun is only just beginning...! I have bigger and better things planned for our boys. Personally, I can't wait for chapter thirteen...it's going to be so sweet and cute...it's gonna give us al fillings...(slightly anti-Jinko...but fun). **


	11. Chapter Eleven: Morpheus

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Theatricity: I was hoping people would feel the jealousy in Harry. I really was. Thanks for saying that. It made me feel more confident. And thanks for staying with me all through MBUS as well...I know that one was a huge rollercoaster at **_**all**_** times...XD**

**Daughter.of.Loneliness: Ooh...same birthday...? Happy birthday for then, I suppose. I try not to make it work out so quickly, as in the sudden hate for Dumbledore or the sudden love between Harry and Draco. There are far too many 'Oh! I love you, too!' fics out there, which drive me nuts. I know they kinda jumped the gun here, but it's a lot of sexual tension, rather than 'I've secretly loved you all along'...**

**Nymphy Fate: 'Twas all too tempting to post this chapter earlier (despite that I only finished it today...;) if only for another awesome review from you. You always get me smiling, which is great. It makes me write more...though, Harry's gonna stay ignorant for a little longer. He might be part Slytherin, but he's still an oblivious Gryffindor when it comes up to these things. **

**Enjoy...!**

-

**Chapter Eleven: Morpheus, Greek God of Dreams**

-

_I can remember the funeral. I can remember everything that happened. How I was feeling at the time escaped me. The fifth year was perhaps the year I really felt it. _

_A girl in my Muggle school had lost her mother in the fight. Her mother was a squib and had done everything she could to keep her daughter away from the wizarding life, just as Papa had done for me. They had their connections within the Ministry and she was killed for it._

_It was only then when it sunk in. This girl, like me, had lost one of her parents to the war. She and her father would never be the same, just like Papa and me. We were all we had. _

_I hated that anniversary. It was the first time I snuck out of the house. I went straight to his grave and cried and cried. And then I saw Lily's grave and I cried even harder. _

_If Papa was angry with me, he didn't show it. He arrived a few hours later and wrapped me up in a blanket before he Apparated with me. He tucked me into my bed for the first time in years and went back to the cemetery. _

_It hurt so much more than I could ever imagine. And it was one of the few memories that still have me crying when I look back at it._

-

Scorpius shot forward in bed, the tears already drowning him. It wasn't very often that he dreamt about these things.

He threw the blankets off him and grabbed his Invisibility Cloak without a second thought.

He needed the comfort of his dad.

-

It had been a long time since Draco had shared a bed with anyone. A few months back, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise for someone to crawl into his bed with him in the middle of the night, urgent with bodily needs.

Now, when he felt the mattress dip with another's weight, he was bothered.

Especially when he couldn't see whatever it was that was sliding under the blankets.

"Scorp?" he asked dozily, hoping to hell that he was right.

Luckily for him, the Cloak was removed, leaving a very visible Scorpius to curl into his arms. He could feel his son shaking with tears; could hear the choking sobs and hiccups.

"What's wrong?" he whispered tenderly, rocking back and forth with the boy.

"They took you away from me. They killed you and Lils. Papa...he should have hated me for what I did that day, I went to you before he did...I hate dreaming about you."

Draco merely shushed him, holding him tightly.

"Why didn't you come back as a ghost? You would have made me and Papa so happy. We could have seen you whenever we wanted to. It hurt so much. We would have those days at school where you're meant to bring your parents in and I never could. Papa was too busy with the war and you were dead...I could never do those things." He was sobbing so hard that Draco didn't know what to do.

Scorpius rarely did anything but smile, so these tears ripped Draco apart. He hated seeing his son in such a state and was thankful that he had dealt with this only once before

But that didn't help the matter at all. He hadn't been there for Scorp's life. He hadn't been there when the boy needed him to hold him. Just the thought of little Scorpius crying for him tore him to pieces. He knew that his death had affected Scorpius deeper than his son would ever show it.

"Draco pressed a tender kiss to Scorpius' forehead, trying to soothe him. "I'm here now. We're together here."

His tears just continued until he had cried himself to sleep.

-

The classes had changed. It was no longer a case of everyone against Draco. Instead, Theodore was with him.

And it pissed Harry off to no end.

There was something in the way they interacted with each other. They were getting closer and closer to each other as the days passed. Malfoy had been kicked out of the good graces of the Slytherin students and Nott was the next to be thrown out after word got out about his father.

Rumours about Zabini's death flew everywhere, from the torture it had been, to his mother being forced to kill him, to the Dark Lord having his sick and twisted way with the teen before he allowed his snake to eat him alive. The rumours got more and more wild each time they spilled from someone's mouth. It was nearly too much for some of the Slytherins, but it seemed as if they were the ones behind the rumours. The younger years hated hearing about it, especially since his little sister had been pulled out of school, but the older students took delight in dramatising his death. They saw his family as traitors. Their Lord had been insulted by Mrs. Zabini and they wanted everyone to know how horrible the Death Eaters thought of the family.

Regardless, it had forced Nott and Malfoy closer together. Nott, who had been sharing a room with Blaise at the start of the year ended up with his own room. If the rumours were true, Draco frequently visited his quarters, and where Draco went, Scorpius did.

It was nearly enough to make Harry's skin crawl. The idea of Malfoy and Nott together...

He tried not to think of those things, especially in potions class, where he found himself thinking of these things more often. Malfoy stood out best in this class, gaining his attention more often. There was just something in the way the scarce light caught his eyes or his hair. It always dragged his attention over to the other teen. The fact that he knew Scorpius was doing half of the work for him also had him thinking on the family.

Harry watched as one of the vials moved closer to his hand. "A few drops of this after the third clockwise turn will make it perfect," he heard Scorpius whisper. Hermione arched an eyebrow at Harry when she saw him pick it up.

"That's not on our ingredient list," she hissed, her eyes darting around as if she was trying to find Scorpius. "You shouldn't listen to him. You might appear to be getting better, but you're just stealing his knowledge."

"Hermione, it's not at all likely that we'll live long enough to see the results of this year. And whatever profession I choose after this won't have anything to do with potions. Hell, I'd probably spend the rest of my life as an Auror, where I'm supposed to be perfect, and that's _only_ if I survive this war."

"With the training you have, there's a good chance that you'll survive."

"Not according to someone who's already been through all of that."

Harry's face scrunched up in brief pain after the dull sound of something connecting with his shin.

"You're an idiot." Scorpius' voice invaded his ears again. "You're not going to die this time around."

Rather than responding to that, Harry added the extra ingredient after the third turn.

Behind him, he could hear the two outcasts speaking to each other as if Nott had never abused Malfoy in his life. It had Harry rolling his eyes.

"You have no idea how jealous you look," Scorpius chuckled at him, keeping his voice as low as he possibly could.

His words had Harry flushing.

"Look, it's just not right. Nott nearly killed Malfoy not too long ago. Surely you can't have forgiven him already."

"I blamed you, if you do remember."

"I don't see why this doesn't bother you. He attacked your dad. I wouldn't trust anyone that much if that happened to my father."

"Yeah, well your father's been dead for a long time, so no one's gonna attack him any time soon. I grew up with Theo in my life and I trust him with my deepest and darkest secrets. More so than I trust you half of the time."

And that burned Harry so hard that he dropped the next ingredient onto the floor, wincing as he heard the glass shatter.

"Theodore was a good parent to me. He treated me far better than you did. He wanted me to be happy and tried to fill in that gap that dad left behind."

As his words ended, Severus approached Harry. "I could have sworn that belonged in the potion, not on the floor, Potter."

"Yes, sir," Harry responded through his teeth.

He could hear the two behind him talking in hushed whispers to each other as he bent down to retrieve what he could.

-

Draco blushed bright red as Theo raised an eyebrow in his direction. "_That's_ what you see in him?"

They had been talking non-stop since Theo's father's death and the topic of Potter seemed to be a hot one. And now that he was bent in front of them, Theo was suddenly given the idea of just what had attracted Draco to him.

"Well, you gotta admit...he has a great arse."

Theo snorted. "_Yours_ is better."

The blush intensified. "Theo...I'm not..."

"Not interested?" Theo asked, as small smirk on his face. "Keeping yourself for Scorpius' papa?" The taller teen brushed his body against Draco's, taking in the warmth from the other's hip and thigh.

Although Draco should have felt the move was completely inappropriate, he felt like he had been burnt. The action stung him through his clothes. He had come in contact with someone other than Scorpius' father, and it felt like someone was holding a flame to his skin, much like how it had felt when Blaise had kissed him.

The thought of Blaise always turned his stomach. Dumbledore had organised a second funeral for him at the school so that the students could 'say their farewells' even though there hadn't been a body. The family had decided against an open-coffin funeral and had instead cremated him. They didn't want anyone else seeing what had happened to him. His little sister never once saw the body. His mother had been a wreck. People said that she was the one to kill him-that she had ended his suffering. After asking Potter his opinion on it, he denied it. He said that he doubted she could have done something like that in the state she was in.

Draco came back to classroom thoughts as Theo nudged him again, this time to get his attention.

It still created that bad burn.

That's how he described it. It was a bad burn. The scorching Potter left on his skin after touching him was a good burn. These touches from anyone else were bad burns.

"Yeah, I'm saving myself for Scorpius' papa. I'm in love with him," Draco claimed, glaring at Theodore before his eyes darted back to Harry's rear, fully enjoying the sight.

"But Potter..."

"I'm just looking."

"You've done more than just looking," Theo reminded him, his own eyes wandering over Draco's form.

"You really need to back off," Draco warned, his voice rising in volume at the threat.

Trying to keep the conversation between them, Theo deliberately used a softer voice. "I'm just playing."

-

Harry felt his insides warm at Draco's voice. He had warned the other teen off. He didn't want anything to do with him. The Gryffindor felt as if he could do anything at that point. The idea of the blonde not wanting Nott made him beyond happy.

He straightened back up, having collecting all that he could before he got to work slicing it up. A pair of hands, covered with material, covered his own, guiding his actions.

"You're a barbarian with a knife," Scorpius scorned, slicing effectively. "We're trying to use this stuff, not stab it to death."

There was a sharp gasp behind them, causing the two of them to turn quickly.

-

"Your mother's name was Lilith, wasn't it?" Draco asked Theo quickly, something calculating in his brain.

"Yeah," Theo answered a little slowly, looking at Draco as if he was a man possessed. "Why?"

"Lils. Scorpius calls his sister Lils. He refused to tell me what he real name is, and I know Lils has to be a nickname for her 'cause there's no way in this world I'd allow my daughter to be called _Lils_ of all things, but told me that she was named after their grandmother."

A sly grin formed on Theo's face. "Maybe you _are_ interested, then."

"But you have hazel eyes..."

"Just like my mother. My father had green, though."

That had both Draco and Harry's breathing halting.

-

Hermione shoved Harry back into reality. "Would you focus here, Harry?" she demanded, her knife dangerously waving over the cauldron. "Their conversation isn't important. This stuff is."

"_Isn't important_?" Harry hissed, nearly angrily. "They're talking about Scorpius..."

"And why should that involve you? If their suspicions are right, you're not his father. You have no part in that conversation."

The words counteracted the warmth that had seeped through Harry's body. They froze uncomfortably.

"Malfoy and I..."

"Obviously aren't anything if you can't use his first name. Malfoy and Nott seem to be something important, though. It fits in perfectly, doesn't it?"

That beast, that one that rose whenever Harry got jealous, was stirring again.

"I mean, his mother's name was Lilith, and the eye thing matches. They seem to get along well enough, don't they?"

Harry could feel his hair bristling at the idea.

"Or...is it possible that you want to be Scorpius' papa?"

Neither had expected Scorpius to speak up at that.

"Please, don't answer that Harry. Please don't," he pleaded softly. He had gone as far as to tug on Harry's robes. "There's no need to answer that...Aunt Hermione knows who my papa is...she's just playing around since she already knows...there's seriously no need to answer."

He could hear the desperation in the boy's voice and it won. Harry could never willingly harm Scorpius, and he knew that whatever the answer it was, things would get complicated. Doing that would hurt him, and that was definitely against whatever Harry wanted.

Still...

"You _know_?" Harry asked Hermione.

"I'm his aunt. Of course he'd tell me," she responded, her nose tipped up in the air.

Harry grumbled under his breath before his hand came down to Scorpius', which was still on his clothes. "It's okay. Whatever's going on between your dad and I won't change you and me, okay?"

Arms quickly embraced him, but were gone before anyone could notice the strange way Harry's clothes crumpled, seemingly by themselves.

-

Grey eyes narrowed at the sign of affection between Potter and Scorpius. Draco mightn't have been able to see Scorpius, but he knew why Potter's clothes crinkled like that. His son had hugged him.

He had hugged another man right in front of the man Draco suspected to be his papa. He had also heard Granger's comment about knowing who Scorpius' papa was.

Just briefly, their eyes met. Those big brown eyes seemed to always know everything. He wanted to know who this mystery man was. His thoughts on Theo made sense. His mother's name was Lilith. Surely _Lils_ could be the shortened version. And his father's eyes were green.

Yet, whenever they touched, he felt the bad burn. The same for whenever Blaise touched him. But with Potter...

Something struck him.

"Potter," he hissed, leaning forward over his desk, getting as close to Harry as he could. "_Potter_."

"We're in the middle of class, Malfoy," Harry replied, not even bothering to turn to the other teen.

Draco reached out this time, grabbing at the back of Harry's pants and tugging as hard as he could. Harry barely had time to grab at his belt before his clothes were dragged off his body.

There was a quick complaint from Theo, standing on Draco's right, before Harry turned and smacked Draco's hand away from him.

"What's wrong with you?"

They both ignored Severus' impatient cough. When he noticed this, he returned to his desk and retrieved yet another potion that he downed.

"I wanna see," Draco muttered, tugging on Harry's pants again.

"_Excuse me_?" Harry asked, completely shocked with what the blonde had said.

"Get your mind out of the gutter and get here."

"You're the one trying to pull down my pants."

The blonde sighed, releasing Harry from his grasp. Harry turned completely to glare at him. The moment he did, Draco stole his glasses away from his face, leaning in closer to see the brunette properly.

It took his breath away. Sure, the two of them had shared kisses before, but they had only been given one chance to look at each other this way before, and it wasn't so much about looking. When Draco had slammed the door into Harry's face, the session after had been about touching and feeling the way Draco's eyes moved around Harry. This time, they were looking.

He had never once considered how bright Harry's eyes really were, hidden behind his glasses the way that they were. They shone beautifully, like emeralds staring back at him. The perfect colour for a closet Slytherin. His skin was also smooth, on the fairer side of the colour pallet, and brushed with the barest of facial hair, showing that he hadn't shaved that morning. He had to fight back the temptation to run his lips over the solid chin of the other boy. That thought was stored away for later. Tempting him even further were those lips. They were partly opened and ripe and utterly kissable. Then again, he thought that last thought about most things about Potter. His lips, his chin, his fingertips...they were all begging for Draco's oral attention. Not that Draco's lips would argue against that. No, he was more than willing to silence their begging by fulfilling their pleas.

As close as Draco was to his face, Harry could make out most of the Slytherin's features. He could see the grey orbs taking him in, languorously eyeing every little detail about him before joining their eye contact again. Malfoy was much paler than most. His skin probably shone in the moonlight like golden tans did in the sun. It was hard to imagine the other out in the sun, trying to darken his skin like others did. And Harry was thankful for it. The other boy had no blemishes on his face (from what he could see, anyway); he was lacking the freckles most people got when they went out into the sun. He wondered whether if that skin was as soft as it looked. Harry had never paid much attention to a face, but everything about Malfoy caught his weak eyes. At one point, Malfoy unconsciously bit at his lower lip, dragging it under the upper lip, bringing it back out into the light of the room, red and moist and ready to be kissed. For a moment, Harry fantasised biting on that lip.

But, of course, one of the many people affected by the sun's almighty-freckling-ability ruined the moment between them.

The two of them were rudely pulled from their observations when the back of Draco's head caught the scrunched up ball of parchment Ron sent to him.

Draco turned to glare at him, only to realise that everyone was staring at them. Whispers began when the blushing began and then they had to face Severus.

"That'll be ten points from Gryffindor for throwing a ball of parchment, Weasley," Severus claimed, deducting the points. "And another twenty, Mister Potter, for flirting in class."

They waited for Draco's sanction, but felt their jaws drop when he received none.

"He initiated it," Harry argued, grabbing his glasses from Draco's hand and putting them on his face. "And we weren't flirting..."

"Another twenty for arguing."

The jaw dropped wider. "But..." Severus sent him a look that teased him, challenged him to continue. Sighing deeply, Harry gave up.

And then there was a piece of parchment on his table. It was obviously the one that had been thrown at Malfoy's head, having Ron's scribbled notes on the top of it. Below lay the prettiest handwriting Harry had ever seen. It was obviously Malfoy's, but the thought of him having such a pretty script made Harry laugh. He smothered it with his hand before he actually read what was written on it.

What the blonde had to tell him had him biting down on the hand to stop him from bursting.

Hermione saw Harry's reaction and grabbed it from him. She, too, had trouble with it.

_You're just lucky he's screwing your werewolf. That could have been a lot worse._

Harry turned to Draco in question.

The blonde just smirked.

-

"I can't believe how much trouble you got me into today," Harry grumbled, following Draco into the Room of Requirement. "Seriously. That wasn't fun. And what was that about...?"

Harry's question was cut short by Draco's mouth. The moment the door had closed behind them, Draco surged forward, clamping their lips together and forcing Harry back against the door.

Not that Harry complained. His arms went straight around Draco's waist, pulling his body in as close as he possibly could, revelling in the sensation of having that gorgeous frame plastered against his own. His other hand trailed through Draco's hair before tangling in it, pressing their mouths harder against each other.

Draco shivered at that, pushing Harry harder against the door, his arms wrapped around Harry's neck and shoulders. Harry's hand slipped under Draco's shirt and his fingers danced on the heated skin. He groaned when he realised that his skin was as soft as he had imagined.

He needed more, he realised.

Harry released Draco's lips and moved down his chin, his jaw line, up to nibble on the lobe of his ear before travelling down his neck, his mouth and tongue devouring as much skin as possible. The tables were changed as Harry turned them around, pressing Draco against the door. The blonde was moaning, his fingers digging into Harry's shoulders as he arched up towards the mouth on his neck, his whole body tingling when Harry bit down and suckled on his flesh, marking him.

Draco breathed Harry's name, his first name slipping from his lips, forcing Harry to abandon his neck and return to that glorious mouth. He felt Draco's nimble fingers playing with his robes, untying them with the simplest of tugs.

Harry couldn't help but laugh as he pulled away, feeling the change in the temperature now that his robes were pooled around his feet. With the same tug to his own robes, Draco's fell from his shoulders. "Seems as if you've had experience with that move," he chuckled, his mouth lowering to the corner of Draco's mouth, almost affectionately.

That mouth merely smirked as Draco's fingers got to work on Harry's tie.

"We shouldn't...Scorpius is gonna show up at any minute..."

"I told him not to," Draco interrupted, dropping Harry's tie to the floor. He pushed the top button of Harry's shirt through its hole and kissed the skin it revealed.

"Sneaky git."

"Horny git." The correction had Harry's hands moving over Draco's rear. "I haven't had sex since weeks before Scorpius got here and it's about time I got laid." The second button came undone.

"We agreed against..."

"We also agreed against not being alone together."

Harry opened his mouth to disagree with that, but Draco pulled back and started to undo his own shirt.

And, dear Merlin, Harry's mouth went dry and his brain turned to mush.

Inch by inch, the blonde's creamy skin was revealed to Harry. His beautifully sculpted chest looked as if it had never been touched by man or had seen the light of day before. Harry was almost worried to touch him. He looked too much like a porcelain doll. Regardless, he grabbed for the teen's hips and pulled him against him, running his hands up and down his sides before he finally put them to rest just under his ribs.

There was only one slight blemish to his skin, and that was the purple bruise Harry had placed on his neck earlier.

"Damn you, Malfoy," Harry breathed before he lowered his mouth to Draco's collarbone. Draco's breath caught in his throat when he felt Harry's tongue tracing his skin, his teeth nipping at him until he was red. Mapping out Draco's skin with his mouth, Harry traced a path from the collarbone down to the darkest spot he had seen on Draco's body. He pressed a kiss to Draco's left nipple before his teeth scraped at it. Once it was a hard nub, Harry suckled on it, pulling it into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it over and over until Draco was shivering.

"Harry," Draco gasped out, his hands tugging at Harry's hair when he crossed to the other side of Draco's chest, lovingly nuzzling the flesh. He sucked the skin covering Draco's ribcage into his mouth, marking him there, too.

Just hearing his voice had Harry pulling away. "This is wrong," he muttered, standing up properly. He moved to close Draco's shirt when the blonde caught his hand.

"Are you joking?" Draco demanded. "You got me all worked up just get blind-sighted by your Gryffindor morals?" He was panting, still highly aroused from the session.

"Look..."

"No, you look." And with that, he placed Harry's hand on his crotch, letting the brunette know just how aroused he really was. It took all of Harry's willpower not to help the blonde out, feeling the shape, the heat, of his hard length. Harry was in the exact same state, and Draco knew it. For the briefest of seconds, his eyes darted down to the tent in Harry's pants. "You can't possibly walk away from this. Not now. So you better hurry up and take me before I get angry."

Harry couldn't help but kiss the Slytherin on his flushed cheek, deliberately avoiding the look Draco had in his eyes. He could only assume his own reflected the same need and arousal Draco's had. He removed his hand and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured, "but we can't. You're in love with Scorpius' papa."

"So how is this wrong?"

The words came from Draco's mouth before he could stop them.

"I think it's pretty obvious how it's wrong. Nott seems to fit the picture perfectly." He spoke with venom in his voice. So much so that Draco did up a few of his buttons, hiding his body from the Gryffindor.

"That's different."

"How so?"

Draco avoided his eyes this time. "It burns. Whenever he tries to touch me that way, it burns. It's...he can't be..."

"And what? You think I'm his papa?"

This time, Draco stepped forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Harry's lips. "That felt right, right?"

It boggled Harry's mind. "How? How is it possible? You and me?" He froze. "Are you in love with me?"

"I don't think I am," Draco answered honestly. "This is so confusing."

Harry gathered Draco in his arms, pulling him into a comforting embrace, making sure that that was all it amounted to. He could still feel the heaviness between his legs, and the semi-hardness of Draco pressed into his thigh, but ignored it the best he could. "Maybe we shouldn't be focusing on these things right now." He smoothed down Draco's hair tenderly, fighting back the instinct to kiss him on his forehead.

They fitted together much too perfectly.

"What was up with Scorpius today?" Harry asked absently. "He seemed a little different."

"He had a nightmare last night that scared the shit out of him. It must have been three this morning when he crawled into bed with me in tears." Draco was talking into Harry's shirt, refusing to look up at the other teen. "He remembered the fifth year anniversary of my death. And his little sister's."

"Lilith."

No matter how many times Draco tossed that up in his mind, it didn't sit well.

"I get really worried about him," Harry continued. "Every time I see him, it feels like butterflies explode in my stomach. All I want to do is protect him. When he showed up in Dumbledore's office, everyone was ready to attack him, but just the thought of him getting hurt makes me wanna die."

"Yeah, I know. I felt the same thing when I first saw him."

"I don't even want to think about a world without him. Dumbledore wants him to be a part of this war. I told him no; I had to. The suggestion nearly tore me to pieces."

Draco's eyes snapped open, finally coming to the right realisation. He broke free from Harry's arms, several shades greyer than usual.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked sincerely.

"Nothing...I-I..." Draco didn't finish the thought and ran out of the Room, picking up his discarded robe on the way.

Harry was completely baffled and left to stare at the door.

-

**Le gasp! What has Draco discovered?? Scorp and Draco have a huge heart to heart in the next chapter, and then my favourite fluffy moment/chapter in a fortnight...! I can't wait to write it. It's one of the reasons why I started on this story to begin with...**

**Reviews...please...? And happy reviews make me wanna update sooner...briberyXD**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Isis

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**shadowama: Thanks for that. I mean, I've realised that there's been a lack of stories I can get into (recommendations are appreciated) but I didn't realise that mine could reinstate faith...**

**Duchess of The Twilight: (NOMS THE CYBER CAKE)...I was actually on a diet of chocolate mousse cake and ice-cream for the past week and I lost a kilo...!! WTF?? It makes no sense whatsoever...anywho...I thought it would be good to see a deeper side to Scorpius, so I'm glad you liked it.**

**Nymphy Fate: Sorry I made you whimper...I do try to write these as quickly as possible, but holidays start today (minus an exam or two...), so I have more time to write...!! Holidays until March...(sigh) I might be able to get the next one done, too...LOL**

**Sit tight everyone else...Draco had an epiphany...Stay on your seats, people...!! I can't believe how many were at the edge of their seats...I didn't realise people got into this so much...I certainly don't...lol...**

**Hope you all enjoy it.**

-

**Chapter Twelve: Isis, Egyptian Goddess of Motherhood**

-

_I hated her so much. She would come home with all this homework that outlined basic wand usage and rules to abide by for when they were with Muggles. I would get handwriting homework, maths, basic English...everything that would set me up for Muggle high school, unlike the Hogwarts guide that is pre-magic school. Rose and Hugo really rubbed it in day after day. They were making so many friends that would go through to Hogwarts with them. _

_All of my friends were Muggles who wouldn't know a wand from a stick a dog played fetch with. _

_And I hated her so much for it._

-

"I knew I knew those fucking eyes!"

Scorpius tried his hardest not to spill his drink, but his dad's sudden outburst shocked him.

"Excuse me?"

He had never heard Draco use such language before, especially not as a child.

"You have _his_ eyes. Green. Emerald green eyes. How the hell did it take me this long to figure it out? Lily? Of course we'd call his daughter that. And I always thought that he and your papa were close and that's why they died together. No! They both coincidentally died on the same day because they're the _same bloody person!_ And then...and then...it all makes sense now...you would get so upset if we fought, and you constantly forced us into playing nice together, you little shit..."

"You should probably sit," Scorpius suggested, offering up a spot on his bed. Draco shook his head, pacing the room wildly. He barely had it in him to duck the equipment wound around the room.

"No wonder you didn't tell me. I would have killed you for saying it. Only an insane person would think that Potter..." He stopped himself. It was too farfetched to even consider saying out aloud.

"Only an insane person would think that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter would have a child together?" Scorpius supplied softly. He felt violently ill when he saw the older Malfoy recoil at the words. "You told me that you had fallen in love with Papa. Is it different now...?"

"It's-it's _him_! I wasn't expecting that. I can't even think of how that would have happened..."

"You kiss him all the time these days."

"That's purely physical, Scorpius."

"No it's not!" Scorpius exclaimed, tears welling up in his eyes. "My dad and my papa love each other. They always have and they always will!" He wiped at his eyes, almost angrily. "You love my papa. That's why you had me. You two stayed strong. Only someone who loves my papa would stay with him during the war the way you did. Only someone who loves him _very_ much would. I know more than anyone how hard it is living with him, how much it hurts to have to wait for the morning to see if he's made it through or not, but you love him. Sooner or later, you will..."

"What Potter and I have at the moment isn't love, Scorpius."

"Not yet it isn't. But when you kiss him, it's right, isn't it? It's not what you felt when Uncle Theo brushed up against you like that, right?"

"Potter can't be your father," Draco objected. Scorpius hiccupped suddenly, tears coming down from his eyes.

"Harry Potter is my papa. I am Scorpius James Malfoy-Potter and my baby sister's name was Lily Cissa Malfoy-Potter. Written on your gravestone is the name Draco Hyperion Malfoy-Potter. You marry him. You have two children with him. You'll fall in love with him. You already are."

Draco ran a hand through his hair, his stomach flipping at Scorpius' words. "Your papa and I...we come from two _very_ different places..."

"So it's alright for you to kiss him but not alright for you to marry him? You're not allowed to fall in love with him?"

"I don't expect you to understand this, Scorp. You were brought up to believe that Potter is right. I'm from the most loyal followers of the Dark Lord..."

"Voldemort is _wrong_!" Scorpius exclaimed, cutting his dad's sentence off. "He's wrong. Killing all those innocent people...killing you and Papa...how can you possibly believe he's doing the right thing? Papa and the Order are stopping people from being oppressed and killed. How can protecting the people you love be wrong?" Scorpius stood, getting as far away from his dad as the small room would let him. "Why did you change sides?"

"Sit back down, Scorp," Draco sighed, stepping closer to his son.

"_Why did you change_? Do you still believe in Voldemort's work?"

"I trust you. And I want you to grow up the way you should have, with everything that would have made you happy. _That_'s why I changed sides." The explanation had what little colour Scorpius had in his face disappearing.

"So...so you didn't do it because you disagreed with him..."

"No child deserves to have their family ripped from them. And you deserve all the happiness you can get. I don't care for the politics of it anymore. Muggles are Muggles. You have Muggle blood in you and I love you just as much as I would have if you were born a pureblood..."

"But you still agree with him?"

"I don't know," Draco answered honestly. "I don't agree with what he did to Blaise. That was beyond wrong." He sat down on the bed and held his head in his hands. "You don't know how strange this is for me. I'm supposed to be his enemy, not his husband. He's what I'm supposed to hate. I don't know how this is gonna work out, Scorp. I mean..._married_? That's so screwed up."

"You fall in love with him and you marry him. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here right now." Scorpius leant against the wall, not too sure if he wanted to be close to his dad. Not after what they were talking about. "Whenever the two of you fight, I start to disappear. I get really sick in my stomach, and the last time, my hand disappeared. Aunt Hermione saw it and quickly rushed me away, but I was so scared. I think it means I won't be born if that happens..."

He hadn't ever seen Draco look so scared before. "You disappear? Why the hell didn't you tell me that?" His face was as white as ever. "Had I known, I never would have fought with Potter. You have to understand, I mightn't think the world of Potter as we are right now, but you're my everything. I can deal with Potter being your papa as long as you're here with me." That surprised Scorpius a little. "I'll marry him-fall in love with him-just as long as you're still born."

"I don't think it works out that way, Dad."

Draco shook his head. "It doesn't matter how it 'works out'. I've given up everything for you and you'll be born, whether if Potter agrees with it or not. I'll steal his sperm if I have to."

It made Scorpius laugh, which seemed to be Draco's aim. Before he could stop him, his dad had stood and had grabbed him into his arms. "Whatever happens between me and Potter will happen." He stopped to think for a little. "I suppose it could be worse. It could be Theo. That would never work out. And Potter...I suppose he'll be alright in bed. He's not a bad kisser, at least."

He grinned as Scorpius squirmed uncomfortably, complaining in disgust. "I don't wanna hear that about Papa."

Draco continued to smile, thankful Scorpius was in his arms. He felt so horrible whenever he saw the boy cry. It tore him to pieces. He would do anything to make that smile come back to Scorpius' face. He smoothed out his son's hair like usual, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"I can't wait until you're born in this time. You must have been so cute as a baby." This time, he was deliberately baiting him. "I suppose I can see those photos now, right? I mean, I know who your papa is now, so there's no problem."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and grabbed out of Draco's arms. At first, it seemed as if his dad didn't even want to allow him that. He grabbed the album from its hiding spot, not even bothering to keep it a secret anymore and handed it over to Draco.

-

Harry was agitated in the Common Room, trying to keep his nerves in tact while in front of so many others. Whatever that had been between him and Malfoy had been many things (perhaps the hottest moment of his life amongst others). The way they moved together had his nether region twitching whenever he recalled the memory of it, but that was the last thing he had to worry about. Harry had put the issue of Scorpius, Nott and Malfoy's confusion first.

That really annoyed him. The way Malfoy ran off without an actually explanation pissed him off because he really didn't have a clue.

Then again, Malfoy wouldn't had left had Harry thrown him to the floor and had his way with him.

Harry promptly sat, trying to block out those mental images.

"You want to talk about it?" Hermione asked from his left. Ron wasn't with them today-he had been dragged away for a game of chess. Somewhere in his mind, Seamus had figured he would beat the other boy before the term was over. He had said that at least a year ago.

"There isn't much to talk about," Harry muttered, answering Hermione. "Things are just a bit confusing, and Malfoy's not helping."

"What's going on with that? I mean, it was a little...heated in potions."

Harry blushed darkly. If she thought that was heated, then what had happened in the Room of Requirement was pure molten lava.

"You know who Scorpius' father is...I think Malfoy might have figured it out, too. Must be Nott, eh?"

She had to stop herself from frowning. "Like we keep telling you, you need to stop thinking about these things. It doesn't matter half as much as the war does."

"So I'm allowed to make out with Malfoy in class but I'm not allowed to think about Scorpius?" Harry questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"That's not what I meant...you can't afford any distractions at the moment. We don't want the future Scorpius has seen, do we? I think he'd rather take his life than live through that again. He's gone through a lot." She was remembering what Scorpius had said to her when they were in the Room. The boy had been right. None of them knew a thing compared to him. They were all living the war with Harry as their guard-their saviour. He had lived with Harry as his only family member. It was harder on him than anyone else.

"You're confusing me with where you stand, Hermione. Yeah, I don't need any distractions right now, but if _Snape_ can get laid during these days, surely I can enjoy things. I can't believe he's shagging Remus...! What the hell is up with that...? Why didn't Remus tell us?"

"Maybe because he's cheating on Tonks," Hermione suggested.

Harry agreed to that, having not thought of it. "Back to you confusing me. I don't you...sometimes you're pro-Malfoy and Scorpius and other times, you're like this. Would you make up your mind?"

"I'm female; it's my prerogative to change my mind like that." She shrugged her shoulders casually. "Honestly, the deeper you get with Malfoy, the more likely it is that you'll be hurt by him..."

"So Scorpius isn't mine."

Her breath caught in her throat. The last thing she really wanted to do was confirm or deny that. Scorpius was a good kid who deserved to live, and either answer could put his existence in danger.

"Either answer will give away too much of your future, so I can't answer that. He asked me not to," Hermione lied.

-

His mind was too clouded, Remus realised as he watched Harry throughout the briefing. Word of Death Eater movement had reached them and they were planning on ambushing Voldemort's followers the next night.

But Harry's eyes kept wandering away from Dumbledore. He wasn't listening, no matter how many times the oldest Weasley boy kept nudging him in his ribs.

"You should probably listen in to the planning part," Bill grinned, his wolfish features coming through.

Harry smiled back at him, albeit weakly. His mind was on the Malfoys.

"Do you think we'll be able to catch Lucius Malfoy?" he asked, rather suddenly.

They all halted their conversations to look at him.

"Lucius Malfoy is all too good at leaving before the Order can get their eyes on him," Albus mused, "and I highly doubt he'd be there for such a small task."

Remus shared a look with Severus. It was obvious Harry's thoughts were with Scorpius.

However, looking at the taller man had him blushing. Remembering what they had done the night before had his entire body tingling. It had been one of the best nights of his life. He would have preferred a different morning, though. The last thing he really needed was for Draco Malfoy to walk in on them. Nonetheless, it happened and there was nothing he could do about it. Now, he had to wait for Tonks to find them. That wouldn't be that hard.

She was standing right next to him, her own hand on the cuff of his robes. Maybe it was her intuition as a woman that made her think something wasn't right. Something had happened that night. She just didn't know what. All she had managed to gather was that her boyfriend hadn't been their bed that night. Yet, he hadn't been down for any Order work. He had told her that he was marking essays with Severus, but the looks they kept sharing weren't of a professional manner. They were...almost flirtatious.

And that shouldn't have worried her-Remus was straight. But it did. It _really _worried her.

"Lucius and Narcissa aren't problems anymore," Severus informed the members. "Since Draco's refusal to take the Mark, they've been ignored by the Dark Lord and the majority of the Death Eaters. The families have been told to abuse Draco as much as they possibly can here at Hogwarts."

"Which is working, by the way," Harry added, almost scathingly. "Not that you're helping with that or anything."

Severus ignored him. "It's the same for Theodore Nott. I imagine he'll be treated the same way Draco is soon enough."

"So he'll be beaten up and molested in dark corners as well, then?"

"This isn't your problem, Potter,' Severus hissed. "Draco knows I can't do anything to stop it for the sake of my position as a spy..."

"He knows?" Albus asked suddenly, something Harry rarely saw.

Severus held his composure. "He asked and I didn't think it would hurt for him to know."

"That was stupid," Tonks claimed. "What if he decides he wants back in his parent's good graces? He'd hand over that information in a heartbeat."

"He's not going back to those ways," Harry argued. "He wouldn't. Scorpius means too much to him."

Bill raised an eyebrow, as did the three other Weasleys there. "Just how close are you to this boy?

"He's sleeping with him," Severus told them before Harry could get a word in.

"_Excuse me_?" Harry gasped, his eyes as wide as they had ever been. "Is that what he told you? We haven't had sex..."

"He told us that it all depends on how you classify 'sleeping with'," Remus grinned, backing up Severus. "Is there something you need to tell me, Harry?"

"Well that's the pot calling the kettle black," Harry shot back heatedly. He caught the looks the two of them sent him and shut his mouth immediately.

"Harry?" Molly asked, stepping closer to the youngest there. "Are you two dating? Ginny told me that you thought you mightn't be attracted to females, but this is still a bit of a surprise...Draco Malfoy of all people...?"

"It doesn't get much girly," Bill chuckled. "I didn't know you're gay. Sleeping with Malfoy? I guess you could have done worse."

Harry blushed under the attention.

"He never really told me, either," Remus sighed. "I had to find out through Scorpius, and that's only because that boy can't keep his mouth shut when it comes up to these things."

"I'm not sleeping with Malfoy," Harry claimed. "We might have slept next to each other last night, but we're not doing anything sexual."

"So you are with him?" Molly questioned. "I never saw this happening. Our Harry Potter with _their_ Draco Malfoy?"

"We're not boyfriends or anything like that. We're barely even friends...I wouldn't call him a friend-he gets a little pissy when I say that, but we don't get along like friends."

"No, he just orders that you remove your pants in the middle of class because he 'wants to see'," Severus smirked, deliberately getting the teen into trouble. Harry glared at him before he cast his pleading eyes towards Albus. _Anything_ to stop this interrogation.

The older man just grinned, clearly entertained with the conversation.

Molly gasped and looked at Arthur briefly. "He did that?"

"That's...not what I normally do with friends," Bill added.

"He meant my glasses. He wanted to see my eyes or something like that," Harry defended.

"Whatever he meant by it, I thought the two of you were going to start copulating in my class," Severus shrugged, almost casually.

"Yeah, well, Malfoy ended up giving me quite an interesting note about your own love life."

That had the potions master stopping. His whole body tensed and his mouth clicked shut. Remus had the same reaction, but wasn't caught by anyone.

"_Love_ life?" Molly asked, ignoring the attack Harry had made on Severus. "You love him?"

"What? No. Definitely _not_ in love with him."

"Just obsessed, it would seem," Bill grinned. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Obsessed? It's you guys who've been forcing this conversation...I'm just defending myself here..."

"You brought up the issue with Lucius Malfoy, didn't you?"

He had a point.

Looking around the room, Harry could only find people with their attention focused on him. They had been called up to Albus' office again to plan for this next attack, even though it had been only one fortnight since their last. Molly and Arthur Weasley were there, along with Bill. Tonks, Remus, Severus and Minerva were there, as always. Everyone else would be briefed outside the office.

And now, they were all focused on his non-existent sex life.

The only one seemingly not amused by this was Arthur. In fact, he looked quite pissed off at Harry.

"I hate you, you know that?" Harry sighed, giving up. The comment was (of course) directed towards Severus.

"The feeling is mutual, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes. "So, can we get on to the actual issue? Death Eaters trying to take over the world?"

"Just as long as you're careful, Harry dear," Molly said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Do you know how many he's been with? I hope you use protection from those transmitted diseases and whatnot...I know that you were careful with Ginny that time but..."

"Mum," Bill argued almost instantly. "I'm sure Harry doesn't need that talk in front of everyone."

"Oh..."

Harry had gone beet red. The last thing he really needed was to have Snape hear Molly mothering him like that. It was actually one of the times he was glad his mother wasn't around to embarrass him.

Not that he'd say that out aloud. Severus would probably tear him limb from limb.

"So what kind of relationship is it?" Molly persevered.

"One he shouldn't be in," Arthur claimed quite angrily. "The Malfoy family can't be trusted. I'd rather die than see you in a relationship with that Death Eater."

"I'm not saying that we're in any sort of a relationship, but Draco Malfoy changed sides because of his son," Harry explained. "I'm not going to trust him with my life, but whatever we're doing is fine..."

"So is this boy your son?"

He paused. Stuttered, even. "Err...well, no...Scorpius is Theodore Nott's child..."

"Where'd you hear that?" Remus asked before he could stop himself. Severus could have hit the man. They really didn't need to be giving that information out right about now. The less distracted Potter was, the better.

"Well, they've been all over each other since Nott's father died. And everything Scorpius has told us about his papa makes sense when you think of Nott as his papa..."

"Then why are you interested in him?" Arthur asked. "If they're already on their way to being a family, shouldn't you back off?"

Harry's heart sank. His breath caught. His stomach turned.

The idea of _them_ being a family tore him to pieces.

At least, that's what it felt like.

Somewhere along the way, Harry had built up this image of him, Malfoy and Scorpius as a family, along with little _Lils_.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Bill clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go out and talk, alright? We'll leave them to do the plotting."

Numbly nodding his head, Harry left the room with him.

-

"Have you spoken to Harry lately?"

Hermione looked up from her book at Ron's voice. They were both working on their homework in the Common Room.

"I haven't had any time to, lately. I feel so bad. I barely know him anymore," Ron continued.

"We talked earlier," Hermione supplied easily. "He's been worrying about this and that...it's too much for him. The weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders is easily too much. And now he's having all these relationship problems, and Scorpius isn't making things better. His mind is on those two Malfoys far too much."

"Don't I know it? He nearly got hit with that Bludger in the last training session-did you see it?"

"Yeah."

"It's like...it's like he's not even thinking anymore. And what are the chances of Harry being Malfoy's husband, anyway? Surely he doesn't think he's the kid's father."

"He could be," Hermione mulled, trying not to give away the truth. "Scorpius' eyes are green. Emerald green, Ron. They're identical to Harry's. And Lils. Harry's mother's name was Lily. I don't think that girl's name was Lilith."

She watched as Ron bit into his chocolate frog, letting that idea float through his head. "But it's Malfoy."

"Did you see how they were in class today? It was like they were lost in each other."

"It wasn't the first time I saw them like that, Hermione. When you disappeared with Scorpius that day in the Room of Requirement, they were all over each other."

Her next question was meekly spoken. "Did he look like he was happy to you?"

"He looked like he was thoroughly whipped and smitten," Ron confirmed with a heavy sigh. "It was more than what he had with Cho or even with Ginny. He looked heartbroken when he and Malfoy decided they weren't going to be around each other anymore. I've never seen Harry like that. It was almost as if he _really_ likes Malfoy. And they've been kissing and all that sort of stuff, so I don't know. I mean, it's Malfoy, so I'm not happy with this, but the way he looks at him..."

"I know."

"But he can't afford to have a distraction like a shoddy relationship right now. The future Scorpius endured is proof enough of that."

"I told him that, but what if Malfoy really makes Harry happy? Why can't Harry have a relationship that'll make him happy? He deserves it more than anyone. He's gone through hell. But a distraction like that won't be good for him. We need-the whole wizarding community needs-him to keep a steady head."

Ron fell silent with a heavy sigh. He eyed Hermione, feeling his body warm.

Harry might have been falling into whatever it was with Malfoy, but there was no mistaking what he felt for Hermione. What had started as a little crush years before steadily trickled into something stronger. Something much stronger. It was very close to love, in fact.

"Err...are you worried about...distractions?"

She felt her face heat up. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well-well-it's like...are you _distracted_ by anyone at the moment...?"

Hermione closed her book, her brown eyes settling on him.

"I have a slight distraction, yes."

His own face heated. "Is it a good distraction, or a bad distraction?"

"A good one. How about you? Are you distracted?"

"Very," Ron blurted before he could stop himself. All at once, he felt his body burn up, his stomach churning in a not-so-good way. He wanted to curl up into a little ball and let things die. Saying something like that was beyond his intention-it was ridiculous for him to say that. He may have well told Voldemort which bed Harry slept in.

End of the world.

Or, maybe not.

Hermione reached over the table, her fingers sliding over the back of his hand. All the while, her eyes had gone back to the pages of her book.

A distinct blush covered her face, matching Ron's own.

And yet, he was the happiest man on Earth at that moment.

-

"I know that look on your face," Bill accused, steering Harry out into the hallway by his shoulders. "You look as if you just lost the most important thing in your life."

"I haven't..."

"It popped up the moment Dad suggested you give up on Malfoy and his kid."

Harry walked across to the other side of the hall to rest against the wall.

"It was like you realised that child wasn't every going to be yours."

"And how would you know what that looks like?"

The older man let out a sigh, joining Harry where he was standing. "Fleur...she miscarried again. We're so close to having a family of our own, but we can't seem to keep them past that first trimester. She's worried to try again. And I don't blame her. It's hard losing them like this." He ruffled the stunned teen's hair. "That's what you looked like. It was the same for me. Having those children torn away from me was perhaps the hardest things I've ever had to live through. It's hell. So don't go thinking too much about Scorpius being yours. It just hurts that much more when you find out that it isn't going to happen, okay?"

"I already think of him as mine," Harry admitted, openly for the first time. "I mean, everything fits. He has my eyes and my height. His sister's nickname could easily be for Lily. It feels like heaven whenever I see him, let alone hold him. Nott might make sense, but it's not right. Malfoy can't stand to be near him. He told me it burns whenever they touch. And yet, he can easily kiss me. I don't know what's going on."

Bill thought for a while. "Well, those things do make sense..."

"They do."

"But, we have to keep it in mind that it's Malfoy..."

Harry had to stop himself from snorting at that. "The fact that it's Malfoy isn't even slowing this thing down. We're both beyond attracted to each other-he practically begged for sex earlier."

Laughter came from Bill. "Do you even know how to do it with another guy?"

"I reckon he knows well enough for the both of us. I'd hate to say this of him, but from what I've heard, he's got a fair list to draw experience from."

The tone turned serious. "So you're okay with Malfoy being your lover and this kid being your son?"

Harry stretched, feeling his bones pop and his muscles rejuvenate. "Yeah, surprisingly, I am."

Bill tugged the other man close, giving him a quick hug. "Then go for it. Ignore Dad. It'll take time for it to digest. Suddenly hearing you're sleeping with that evil son of a bitch isn't the easiest thing to take in, you know?"

"I suppose."

"So...any news on Ron and Hermione and their magical times together? You must be giving them time to themselves with your attention on Malfoy the way it is?"

Harry smiled, inclining his head as they walked together back into the office.

-

**So sorry the rest seemed like I was just trying to fill in the time, but hey, I was. XD**

**Stick with it for another chapter for the ultimate fluff I'm dying to write. I've had this scene in my head for months now and it's finally showing up in writing...yay!**

**Keep the reviews coming...I is happy when I get them. **

**Ja**


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Eris

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Hello again! Is Jinko! I had a Japanese oral exam today...and I haven't been able to write all week...we decided to have a study night, which ended up in us finding out that I'm really good at poker and that I bite when drunk...so many apologies today (cries)...turns out I bit one of the guys on his thigh and his stomach...so yeah...**

**nioshireami: Nihonjin jyanai desuga, Nihongo ga dekimasu...Maishyuuno Kinyoubi Nihongo no kurassu ga arimasu. Anata?**

**Nymphy Fate: I actually had to go back and reread the chapter to see what you were going on about...I seriously couldn't remember writing that...XD**

**Malissandre: This story will be twenty-one chapters long. I have it all planned out since I have no life...**

-

**Chapter Thirteen: Eris, Greek Goddess of Strife and Discord**

**-**

_Going to a Muggle public school was a nightmare. Unlike Rose and Hugo, I was homeschooled until I was eight. I had no friends other than those two and I didn't know how to act in public. When I was thrown head first into that life, all I could think about was going home and crawling into bed. _

_It never once occurred to me that people could be so prejudiced against homosexuals. Although Papa told me to keep him and Daddy a secret from everyone, the moment I made a friend, I talked about it. I told them that I had a daddy and a papa, who were very much in love, but my dad wasn't there anymore. He thought it was so strange. His father met Papa at the school gate the next morning and started a fight with him. He said he didn't want his children around something so disgusting. _

_I wasn't allowed to talk to that boy anymore, and no one else wanted to be friends with a little freak like me. _

_The parent-teacher meetings were always horrible. Papa would never show up and they would ask every year. I told them that since my mother died, my father spent all his time working to support me and to keep his mind off everything. That just made it worse. They worried that he was neglecting me and demanded that if he didn't show up one year, they'd call the police on him. _

_He behaved, attending like every other father._

_The students were scared to say things around me. Mothers were never mentioned, and no one ever said the 'g' word. It seemed like the whole year level had been banned from using the word 'gay'. Whenever it came up, especially as an insult, they'd all look at me. _

_I never wanted to go to school. I would complain to Papa about how useless it was. Why'd I have to learn all this stuff if I was going to Hogwarts?_

-

It wasn't very often that Theodore Nott roamed the passageways without Draco Malfoy by his side. The two were near inseparable and had been for a while now.

A fortnight had passed since Draco had had that heated moment with Potter in the Room of Requirement. They were roughly a week away from Christmas and Scorpius loved it.

But as Theo moved on his own, he ran into something he dreaded.

Pansy Parkinson was quickly becoming the bane of everyone at Hogwarts. She was always there, with Crabbe and Goyle by her side, barking out the orders like the little pug bitch she was. The brainless twits who had once dedicated their lives to serving Draco would act out each and every order that came yapping out of her mouth.

Theo and Draco had suffered from her abuse that week. Although all she could do was taunt and tease Theo, she had ordered Draco's physical suffering. She made sure Draco couldn't walk away by the time those two had finished with him, leaving Theo to carry him away. The Room of Requirement was quickly turning into an operating room for whenever Draco was a victim.

The taller of the two wasn't to be touched. He hadn't turned his back on the Death Eater completely just yet and his father had fallen as a successful Death Eater. Draco, however, was open game.

And, oh, did they love to play.

They'd give him enough time to be healed (without Madam Pomfrey, of course) before they'd return again and beat him just as hard as before.

Scorpius wasn't allowed to travel with them. They knew he'd get too angry and would try to step in. He knew about it, and was overly angry that he wasn't allowed to go with them to stop them, but expressing his anger was all he was allowed to do. Both his parents had expressed that he wasn't allowed to go anywhere near Pansy.

Naturally, that order was overlooked whenever she tried something in potions class. The same pushing and shoving that happened weeks ago occurred every session. Surprisingly, the same symptoms Theo had suffered that week also happened to all those who touched Draco.

They figured it was some sort of barrier and took it up with Severus. Knowing his role in these things, he had favoured the Death Eater students and performed several tests on the teen to see if he had any barrier on him that caused these injuries whenever someone 'accidentally brushed into him'. They were all present to see the results, and they were all highly pissed off to see that they all turned out negative.

They then suggested that it was some sort of potion. So, Severus raided Draco's room, with Pansy present, but found nothing that would have caused the reaction.

And yet, every time they came in contact with him, they all lost the ability to feel their arms, regardless to which arm it was that touched him.

It was just too bad Draco had banned Scorpius from following him around. He knew he could do with the boy to get rid of the Slytherins.

But then again, he didn't want to expose Scorpius to such a thing.

"Nott," Pansy snapped, her hands on her hips as she attempted one of Draco's smirks. Theo rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"Here to remind me how pathetic I am, Parkinson?" he asked, trying to walk past her. Both large boys stood in his way. "Or are you actually willing to raise a hand against me?"

Her face scrunched up in thought. "You know we would never harm you, Theo. You're too precious to the Dark Lord. When we look at you pedigree, you're quite the soldier for him, aren't you?"

He nearly shuddered at her voice. Since Blaise' death, questions regarding her future husband had been on the rise.

Most unfortunately for him, it seemed as if he was the next one in line, despite his own slight 'engagement' to a sixth year student.

"My pedigree has nothing to do with it. You're too chicken shit to attack someone whose father was famous for torturing whoever the hell he wanted to. My father was nothing like Lucius Malfoy. He did his own thing and followed only when he was ordered to. I'm not different, Parkinson. Attacking Draco the way you do just proves how cowardly you truly are."

"That's stupid," she dismissed. "Malfoy deserves everything he gets. If he was stupid enough to turn his back on the Dark Lord, then he can't possibly get any more damaged. Besides, he's absolutely useless. A faggot like him couldn't have children anyway, and that's one of the most important things about being a Death Eater. The more support we can give our Lord, the better."

"You're sick, you know that? Draco was the smartest one out of all of us. He knew how and when to get out of this. I'm not killing innocent people for the sake of some nutcase," Theo told her scathingly. "Or have you forgotten what my father did to Blaise? He was your fiancé, wasn't he?"

"Blaise' mother had to be taught a lesson. That's why Blaise isn't here anymore. But that doesn't matter. You and Malfoy have gotten much too close, and his relationship with Potter is sickening." She stuck her nose up in the air with the obvious hopes of appearing elegant and powerful.

Instead, it just made her look more like a puffed up pug.

"His relationship with Potter is just speculation." He waved it off, though he knew that there was something there. He had seen the love bites Potter had left Draco with. The one on his neck was particularly nice and purple. Having seen the blonde shirtless after a shower, he had also seen the one on Draco's chest. That one had died down in colour in size after the first few days.

Parkinson wasn't convinced. "Everyone saw that hickey on his neck and we all saw how they were in potions."

Theo smirked. "How do you know that hickey wasn't mine?"

That seemed to take her by surprise. "_You're_ sleeping with him?" She clearly hadn't thought of that. "That can't be possible. You're not his type..."

"I'm male. He hasn't really had much of a type other than that. However, last I checked, Gryffindors certainly weren't his type."

Parkinson looked outraged. With only a few words, Theodore had managed to counter her every thought about the blonde.

"_Fine_. Have your little slut. We'll be watching, though, and you can be sure these things will get back to the Dark Lord. He'll have your head for consorting with that little traitor."

Boldly, Theo stepped up right in front of her, smirking all the while. "Better he have my head than me having your hand."

With a snarl and an ordering bark to her lackeys, she turned on her heel and left Theo's side.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Scorpius' voice behind him, but couldn't help but chuckle at his words.

"So she's always been a bitch?"

-

The snow had started to come down hard. Being the week before Christmas, mostly everyone had been sent home. Only a handful remained, and those were the ones who weren't willing to return for safety's sake or weren't wanted home.

So, naturally, that meant that Harry and Draco remained since they most certainly weren't welcome.

Hermione, Ron and Theo knew it was too risky to head back home, so they had stayed as well. Hardly any of the other Gryffindors had chosen that, except for Ginny and Neville. Most of the Slytherins had gone back home, more than willing participants in whatever plots their parents had for them. The Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs were here and there, but no one really paid that much attention to them. Everyone had other things on their minds.

Such as a picnic.

It might have been instantly agreed to had they been in Spring. Unfortunately, Scorpius had somehow gotten it into his mind that Winter was the best season for this type of thing and had used his big eyes to his greatest advantage. Putting on a face no Malfoy should have, he pleaded (another Malfoy no-no) until his parents gave in.

Granted, it didn't take him long to convince Draco. All he had to do was tell the other blonde that he was willing to spend the whole time ice-skating while Draco and Harry stayed curled up under a blanket.

With a heavily flushed face, Draco had agreed, but only if he could convince Harry.

Hence the puppy-dog look he had put on.

Harry had initially been against the idea, with Arthur's words on his mind. In fact, he had been as distant from those two as he ever had been. For some reason, that seemed to annoy Hermione and Ron.

Those two (unbeknownst to Harry) had begun to build their relationship. However, they had decided together that Harry wasn't to know, just in case it didn't turn out well and caused a rift in the friendship. And now, that he had seemingly lost interest in the two blondes, he was hanging out with them a lot more than he did before. They quite suddenly lost their privacy, and that really got on their nerves.

So when he mentioned the picnic, the two of them were overly supportive of it. Once again, confusion hit him hard. However, a second bout of Scorpius' begging proved too much for the brunette and he agreed to go with the Malfoys for a picnic.

Naturally, it was up to Harry to get the food and whatnot. According to Scorpius, Dobby followed Harry after he left Hogwarts, becoming the house elf for Harry and his family. The first thing Scorpius did when he followed Harry into the kitchens was embrace the tiny elf, who was more than shocked at Scorpius' reaction. He then served the two of them, still highly shocked, before waving them both off.

"Do you think you could teach me how to ride a broom?" Scorpius asked of Harry, the heavy food basket in his hands as he walked down to the lake with his parents.

"Your dad never taught you?" Harry questioned in return, raising an eyebrow in Draco's direction. "You do know that he's a Seeker, right?"

"So are you. And I always wanted to be taught by the best."

Draco pushed the other blonde playfully, watching him as he stumbled to stay upright. "_I_ am the best, kid. Not Potter. Not by a long shot."

"Sure. That's why Gryffindor _always_ beat Slytherin," Harry smirked, his eyes lingering on Draco longer than they should have.

"I let you win."

"I can't imagine your father would be too happy with that."

"_Anyway_," Scorpius sighed heavily, breaking up the banter, "I was too young to be taught by my dad. And my papa didn't want me on a broom since I could get hurt, so I was hoping you'd be able to teach me, Harry. I've always wanted to learn. I don't need to be amazingly good at it like you or Dad. I just wanna get off the ground and up into the air. I wanna learn how to fly. It seems like so much fun." The look on his face was of bliss. The idea of being up in the air was something Muggles had always wanted to achieve. Having been brought up mostly Muggle, he still had that mentality. "The people I grew up with can only imagine of doing something like that, but if I'm taught how to do it, I don't need to imagine it anymore."

Harry ruffled Scorpius' hair. "I get it. I was exactly the same. I had gone all those years as a Muggle, only to find that there are so many amazing things we can do. The first time I flew, it was actually to catch your dad. The wanker stole Neville's Remembrall and threw it out towards the Forbidden Forest. I had to catch it. Surprisingly, his pansy arms are good for throwing." Grinning, Harry looked over at Draco to show that he didn't mean any harm. In return, Draco closed the gap between them as they walked, grabbing Harry's hand. "I'll teach you, but only if it's okay with your dad."

For the first time, Scorpius was without his Invisibility Cloak. They had decided against it since hardly anyone was at the school and no one was willing to go outside. He whipped around at Harry's words, smiling like he was the happiest kid around. "Really?"

"Well, I honestly think your dad should teach you..."

Scorpius turned his eyes to Draco, silently begging.

Had Harry Potter not been Scorpius' father, he probably would have had an issue with another man teaching his son something so important, but since Harry was, he saw nothing wrong in it. And he knew that Scorpius would see it that way.

"I'm fine with it," Draco responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You sure about that?" Harry asked casually, his fingers still tangled with Draco's.

"Yeah. It doesn't mean that I'm a lesser player than you, though."

Harry chuckled suddenly wanting nothing more than to wrap his body around Draco's and kiss him soundly. It was so typical of the other's nature to say something like that, even though everyone knew Harry outstripped him talent wise.

He quickly got off that thought. Having any word including 'strip' in his mind was a bad idea. Especially when he was this close to Draco.

Ever since that time in the Room of Requirement, the dreams had started to hit him hard. The images were a lot more vivid than they originally were. A few months ago, all he got was him finding his pleasure with Draco. Now, they were about satiating the both of them. He dreamt of pleasing Draco before he was out of his own clothes; of making love to him rather than taking him roughly. It nearly scared him when he thought of how deep he was in all of this.

His hand tightened around Draco's and he brought the back of it up to his mouth, kissing it sweetly.

Dear Merlin, he was falling head over heels for this boy.

They reached the tree Scorpius had chosen and had no choice other than to watch the youngest Malfoy organise everything. He first put out the picnic blanket, set the food in the middle of it and then put a second and third blanket up against the tree. Draco was the first to slip under one of the blankets and Harry followed him, dragging the blonde as close to him as possible. They both knew the moment Scorpius was out on the ice, the two of them would be struggling for control.

Scorpius settled himself next t his dad before he reached for the thermos of hot chocolate.

"Do you miss Quidditch?" Scorpius asked, making conversation. Since Draco had quit the team, it was obvious as to who the question was to.

"Yeah, a little. But it's better this way. I don't want to think how often they'd deliberately send the Bludgers my way." He snuggled up closer to Harry, feeling the taller teen's arm wrap around his waist. "There's only so much Potter can do to protect me."

"Shut up you," Harry chided playfully. "I'm not your knight, though you are a little bit of a damsel in distress, aren't you?"

"Oh, your humour just cracks me up," Draco responded cynically. "I bet Potter misses having competition."

"I wish I could have seen the two of you play against each other," Scorpius admitted whimsically. He had always wanted to see his parents fly together, chasing after the same Snitch. He took another drink of his hot chocolate before moving on to the cookies Dobby had packed for them. "I miss Dobby's cooking."

"I guessed as much," Harry grinned, bringing up the way Scorpius reacted towards the house elf, even though he had begged him not to tell his dad.

Before long, Scorpius had filled his stomach and had headed out onto the ice. He shocked the two of them by transfiguring his own blades onto his shoes with a wand he had pulled from his bag.

"I thought you were practically a squib," Draco said dryly, looking at his son's grinning face.

"And where'd you get that?" Harry asked, looking at the wand in Scorpius' hand.

"I can do a few things, Dad," Scorpius smiled, "and this is an untraceable wand from the future. It hasn't even been made yet, so it's okay." He waved to them before he wobbled off.

Now that the blanket was free, Harry dragged it over his and Draco's laps, taking in the extra warmth. "He's an insane kid," Harry muttered, kissing Draco's cheek.

Draco's smile was quickly hidden as he cuddled up to Harry's shoulder. "I'm glad you came here. I believe I am falling for you, Potter."

The arm around Draco's waist tightened and Harry pressed a more insistent kiss on Draco's cheek. Harry's lips then trailed down to Draco's mouth, kissing him softly.

"Doesn't this bother Scorpius?" Harry asked when they pulled away from each other. Settling back, Draco shrugged his shoulders.

"He's okay with it as long as I it's his papa I end up with."

"Things with Nott going that well, eh?"

Draco's hand found his own again, twining their fingers together. "Theo isn't his father."

"And how would you know that?"

"It burns, remember?"

"So I'm Scorpius' papa?"

"Would that bother you?"

Those fingers tightened. "It would bother me if he wasn't." Harry broke away from Draco to rearrange himself. He moved so that he was on his back, still covered by the blankets, and invited Draco in next to him. The blonde took him up on it, of course, sliding in and curling up on his side.

"Even if that means that you have to marry me?"

Harry laughed, holding Draco close to him. "I can imagine a worse fate, Malfoy."

"Draco." Harry raised an eyebrow at the correction. "My name is Draco."

"You still call me by my surname."

"And that idea is now scratched, Harry."

He loved the sound of his name from that mouth. It reminded him of that heated session and had the blood running in a not-so-innocent direction.

Draco propped himself up on his elbow to look not only at Harry, but to see Scorpius on the lake. That boy was as graceful as the Malfoys were meant to be.

"Seems like his papa took him ice-skating a lot," Draco mentioned, cocking his head towards Scorpius. "I guess that's a good thing. They at least got to have fun there." His eyes landed on Harry. "Do you like to ice-skate?"

"Never done it before," Harry answered, though his mind was a little distracted by Draco's hand, which had slipped up his shirt. "You do need a lay, don't you?"

"Yes."

And with that, he bent down, his mouth crushing onto Harry's.

-

Hermione smiled brightly when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle, sharing her warmth with the body behind her.

"That's bold of them," Ron muttered into Hermione's ear, having seen Harry and Malfoy under the tree from one of the castle windows. "Right in front of the kid, too."

"I don't think they're doing anything," she argued.

"Yeah, but they're acting as if it really is Harry who Malfoy marries." Hermione paused, and as close as they were, Ron could feel it. "What's wrong?"

"Scorpius told me who his papa is."

"Dear Merlin...what does Harry get himself into?" Ron asked, catching on. "Malfoy's husband? That's just...insane..."

-

"He'll be mentally scarred, you know?" Harry muttered, gasping as he felt Draco suckle harder on his neck.

"Then wear a turtle-neck," Draco replied, licking at the mark he left behind. "Besides, I don't think he minds this."

"Why not?"

"Well, if you really are his papa, like we seem to think, then everything's going as well as it could be expected, right?" He pressed his lips to Harry's again in a very quick kiss before he looked at Scorpius again. The kid was in his own world. "What are the chances that we'll get married, anyway? We're much too different for that to work out, aren't we?"

Harry's arms came up around Draco's shoulders and he curved Draco's body around his body, resting his head on his chest. "When I was a child, I never dreamt that anyone could love me or even want to marry me. The Muggles who raised me hated me. My cousin would beat me every chance he had, be it at home in front of my uncle or at school. My aunt made me do all the gardening and the cooking and my uncle forced would lock me in my cupboard if I did anything wrong. So the idea of having a loving family is a little strange to me."

Draco's hand settled on Harry's hip. "Did you ever fight back?"

"He was three times the size of me."

"You didn't say your uncle attacked you..."

Harry laughed, kissing Draco's forehead. "My cousin is the size of a teenaged whale, Draco. I couldn't fight back. All I could do was run away. But then again, your family isn't exactly the most loving family around."

"Yes it is," Draco claimed, his voice soft as he looked at his future husband and father of his child. "I have you and Scorpius and that's as loving as it could possibly get."

The words took Harry's breath away. "You're not allowed to say things like that," Harry decided after a while. "You stop my heart when you do."

"Wouldn't want that now, would we?" Draco teased, his hand dipping down to Harry's fly. "That's the Dark Lord's real plot. He wants me to kill you with my sexual prowess and my kind, loving words."

"Well, no using any of that sexual prowess when Scorpius is still in my sight."

With a heavy sigh, Draco removed his hand, placing it back (safely) on his hip again. "We need to find a better time for these things."

"A Winter picnic with the family mightn't be the best place."

Draco laughed softly, kissing Harry's neck quickly. "Family."

Tightening his arm around Draco's form, Harry nuzzled into Draco's hair. There was truly nothing better than the time he spent with these two men.

-

The cold wasn't an issue for Remus and Severus. Not when they had spent the past however many hours in Remus' bed together. Tonks had gone away on business and was due back that day, so they were taking in as much as they possibly could before she returned.

Remus slid off his lover's body, thoroughly satiated and sweaty and sticky, and pressed himself against Severus' side, his hands lingering on Severus' skin. He had lost count as to how many times that man had taken him to paradise and back over the past however many hours. A tender kiss was pressed to Severus' shoulder when his arm wrapped around Remus' shoulder, pulling him in closer.

"I love you," Severus muttered softly, his fingers now running through Remus' sweat-dampened hair. "I don't care what Scorpius thinks. Leave her. I hate the idea of someone else laying claim to you."

"I know." His hand came up to Severus' free one, entangling their fingers together. "I'll deal with it."

"Good." And with that, Severus' arm tightened as he dragged Remus under him again, their mouths melding in their familiar dance. He knew he could never get enough of the other man-he craved him constantly with a ferocity he didn't know a man his age could feel. Remus was so good to and for him. They were meant to be and they could feel that with every passing moment. The fire within just grew larger and larger.

Severus hadn't so much as pressed his hips into Remus' own when the door opened and a suitcase audibly crashed to the marble floor. They both looked up sharply to see Tonks, standing in shock, in the doorway, her eyes open to the scene before her. What Scorpius had predicted had come true.

-

It was very rare that Lucius Malfoy found something that unsettled his stomach. So when his stomach lurched at the sight before him, he knew that something was very, very wrong.

Sitting casually in his usual armchair was the Dark Lord. He made the battered furniture look like the most regal of thrones, donned in his sharp robes with the look of utter satisfaction on his face. That was nothing new and nothing to get so worked up about. He was in front of a roaring fire, warming the chilled air around them. If anything, it was just a normal day in front of his master.

However, there was one slight difference.

He had never seen that creature before; at least, he thought he never had.

Propped up on the arm of the chair was perhaps the most hideous yet beautiful creature Lucius had ever seen.

It was humanoid, clearly female, and had been gifted with the spot only Voldemort's snake had the privilege of taking.

Her face was stunning. Bright yellow eyes looked back at Lucius, taking in the sight of him. Her mouth was closed but her lips were full and coloured red. She had the slightest of noses.

But the stereotypical beauty ended there. Her cheeks had small flecks covering them, bleeding through to her jaw and chin. Staring at it, Lucius deducted they were scales, and they travelled down past the hemming of her clothing. Her hair started well beyond the usual hairline of a human and came down in thick locks, past her shoulders and down her back. She seemed thoroughly intrigued by it and kept playing with it, brushing it with her odd hands. They were petite, until you found the deadly claws. The scales started at her wrists. Her legs (which poked out from under the lengthy skirt she was wearing) were thin and also covered in scales. She had virtually no toes that Lucius could see.

She was having trouble sitting up, so she draped herself over the back of the chair. The movement caused her to open her mouth, allowing Lucius to see two large fangs reflecting the light of the fire.

"Once upon a time," Voldemort started, his hand now running through the long waves of her hair, "I met a most beautiful creature. She was a child of eight years. She had the most amazing pair of eyes I had ever seen, Lucius. They were yellow. Can you believe that? A young girl with such eyes? She took my breath away. I was several years her senior, and yet, she was always on my mind after I first saw her. I was almost too shy to approach her." He chuckled at his own behaviour before continuing. She had acknowledged that he was speaking, but didn't seem to understand a word of it. He instead took her hand from her hair and pressed a kiss to her palm. "I had found her here in England, but she didn't speak a word of English. No matter which language I tried, she could never respond. And then-just when I had given up the idea of vocal communication-she hissed at me. She was a Parselmouth, just like me. The beautiful girl spoke with me the language of snakes. I believe I fell in love straight away."

"My-my Lord?" Lucius asked.

"Hush, slave. My story is important." Lucius inclined his head obediently. "Now, it wasn't very long after that that I discovered that my little love was some madman's experiment. She was born a snake. Someone used her to increase their own skills. They had turned my beautiful girl into a human through spells. His tactics were as unforgivable as any curse you could ever come up with." He pushed the hair from her face, feeling her falling into his shoulder. "For years, she begged me to turn her back into her original form. It was so torturous for her to have legs and arms." He kissed her forehead tenderly. "It took me such a long time to figure it out. But with time, I learnt how to change her back. She's been by my side this whole time. This beautiful woman has always been here with me."

"Nagini," figured Lucius, his mouth going dry as he eyed the woman lounging on the Dark Lord.

"Yes, that is the name of this wonder. She requested the other month that I change her to this form, even for a few days, and I have never been able to say no to her. It's not a perfect transfiguration, but she's still as beautiful."

Lucius really felt his stomach swirl. The man had a reptile as his lover. "If you don't mind me asking, my Lord, why did you ask for me?"

Voldemort's face instantly lost the love-struck image it had been.

"I have heard a few rumours regarding your son. Word has gotten out that he's sexually involved with Harry." He used the word almost fondly, as if thinking of a close friend. "As you can very well imagine, I'm not exactly happy with this. What will you do about it?"

The blonde man was lost for words. His relationship with Draco had been destroyed since he had refused the Mark. In fact, they hadn't spoken a word since. It was well known within the Death Eater ranks that Draco had gone to Dumbledore for help, but no one really knew why. The reason had been debated non-stop by his parents but they couldn't figure it out at all.

"Lucius?" Voldemort prompted.

"Narcissa and I have discussed it several times and there isn't much we can do but disown him..."

"And why have you not done so?"

"My wife is quite attached to our son. She is reluctant to let me take that step."

Red eyes glared at him. "You are in charge of your family, are you not? It mustn't be that complicated for you to take the initiative and remove him from your assets."

Lucius bowed his head again. "Yes, my Lord."

"And what of the relationship with my nemesis?"

That had Lucius' stomach clenching. The idea of his son being involved with Harry Potter was truly a scary thought.

"I haven't spoken to my son for months, my Lord. I cannot be sure of the relationship..."

"Harry Potter would make quite the son-in-law, would he not? I imagine your son would inherit quite the legacy, as would our dear Harry. And any child raised by the two of them would be just as powerful. As much as I dislike your child, I will be amongst the first to admit the boy is strong for his age." He sighed heavily. "His abilities within the potion's field were promising. It is a shame we have lost him to his hormones."

"I had tried to teach him better..."

There was a simple wave of Voldemort's hand, which told the other man to close his mouth immediately. "You have failed as a father, Lucius."

And that was all Voldemort said on the matter before he dismissed the blonde.

-

Hand in hand, they joined Scorpius on the ice. Since Harry had never ice-skated before in his life, Draco was there for him, steadily guiding him.

"It's just like walking, Harry. One in front of the other."

The smile Scorpius had on his face increased when he heard his dad refer to his papa by name.

"Yeah, but unlike walking, we have absolutely no friction. I can feel the blades slipping whenever I move," Harry responded, a little wary as he tried sliding his way around. "I hate you, Malfoy. I really do." The smile on his face told Draco otherwise.

"It's just another thing for you to learn. There's nothing wrong in that."

"There's something massively wrong with tripping up and having your fingers sliced off by the blade," Harry argued.

Draco laughed softly, his hand tightening around Harry's hand. "How about you take over, Scorp?"

Scorpius smiled, turning backwards and grabbing Harry's free hand.

-

**See you all next week**

**More reviews please? Gah, I hope this story isn't becoming as boring as I think it is...**


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Elpis

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Chapter Fourteen: Elpis, Greek Goddess of Hope**

**-**

_My papa was so lonely when Dad died. Sometimes, he had his good days. Other days were horrible._

_On his good days, he'd smile. That was the only real time we could tell if it was a good day or a bad day. Seeing him smile was very rare, but it was always the brightest on the good days. _

_The bad days nearly killed me. He'd lie in bed all day, sleeping or crying. All too often, he was crying. Losing his husband and his daughter took a huge chunk out of him and he couldn't deal with it. _

_I lost my sister and my dad that day, but I hadn't seen any of it. Sometimes, I'd have my own bad days. Whenever I dreamt of them, it'd be a bad day for me. I wouldn't cry as much as Papa did, but I'd still refuse to get out of bed. _

_I hated the bad days. When I was too young to take care of him, Uncle Remus would come by and sort it all out. He'd cook Papa breakfast, get him showered and at least drag him out into the lounge room so that Papa didn't wallow in bed all day. I could never do that. Not even when I got older. I could get him food, but I could never convince him to be out in the sunlight like Uncle Remus did. _

_But when Uncle Remus died, Papa nearly came out of his shell. He saw how much Uncle Sev was hurting and helped him out as much as he possibly could. He knew what Uncle Sev was going through. Seeing another suffering like that helped him more than I'd like to say. It doesn't sound that good when you think about it. Someone else had to be in as much pain as he was before he could do anything. _

_I think for Uncle Sev's sake more than anything, Papa's bad days started to become fewer and fewer. _

_It kinda hurt that he'd do that for a man he hated for most of his life, but couldn't do it for his son._

-

Harry sighed deeply, his mind completely boggled by the information before him. Sure, he had heard Draco mention it before, but he had never once imagined it could have been as true as this.

His mind was possibly scared.

He had walked in on their alone time.

And had run out of the room as quickly as his knobby knees had allowed him.

Severus Snape and Remus Lupin were definitely in a relationship together and he had a very sudden urge to burn his eyes out.

"I warned you," came the smug voice of Scorpius. He was hiding under his Invisibility Cloak, as was expected of him. His parents nearly shared heart attacks when he was caught without it by Theo that day on the lake. The other teen had walked up on them and had started to yell at the three of them for allowing the blonde kid to be so open to the students. It didn't seem to faze Scorpius at all, but the other two had insisted that he started to wear the Cloak everywhere again.

Scorpius let out a loud yawn from next to Harry and Harry could hear the material moving as the boy stretched. "I think that's bedtime for me. Maybe you should come back tomorrow. You can probably get your answer then."

Harry sighed again before he agreed with his son. "Yeah, sure. I'll walk you down to your room."

Although it hadn't been confirmed yet, Harry was certain Scorpius was his child. Oddly enough, it made sense to him. He knew that because of that, he was also the future husband of Draco Malfoy. That caused all sorts of havoc on his system, but he was fine with that. At the age of seventeen, he had found the one person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

He hadn't admitted to himself that he was in love with the feisty blonde. No. He was dangerously attracted to him, but not in love with him. Not yet, at least. Just thinking those thoughts had his face burning. Thinking about loving anyone was enough to make you blush, but knowing these things was pretty damn frightening, yet exciting.

There were the doubts in his mind about the two of them actually marrying and having two children together. It was a highly farfetched idea to begin with and they had never been able to stand each other prior to Scorpius' arrival. In fact, killing each other had been quite high on both of their priority list. Had you mentioned the idea to anyone six months ago, they'd throw you straight into the Closed Ward at Saint Mungo's.

And he was madly obsessed with the blonde man. It was almost as if they were perfectly fitted for each other. When they kissed, they knew the dance by heart. When they embraced, their bodies moulded against each other in a perfect fit. It was anything Harry could have wanted.

Draco Malfoy was his, regardless to whether if he was Scorpius' papa or not.

"I've heard things about your Muggle relatives, but apparently you didn't even allow your own kids to meet them," said Scorpius, his voice very light as they headed down to the dungeons.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. He figured his children weren't to have anything to do with the Dursley family. They were foul creatures in his mind and would rather suffer his childhood again with them than to expose his kids to them.

"I'd rather never hear of them again, let alone let my children near them," Harry answered easily. "Why? Do you know anything about them?"

"They were hunted and killed because of their ties with you. Voldemort believed that holding them hostage was a good way to drag you into his claws. I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be so cold to your own blood. You just let Voldemort have them. No one would explain to me why...I guess it really isn't my place to know in all seriousness..."

The look Harry sent him shut him up instantly. Although he was his son, Scorpius had rarely seen that look on Harry's face. It was of absolute loathing-something he normally reserved for the likes of Voldemort and the parents who attacked his sexuality. It was then that Scorpius realised why the Dursleys were a forbidden topic within his household.

Dudley's one and only child was three months younger than Scorpius. They met by accident one day. Harry and Draco had taken Scorpius to the local kindergarten a few weeks before Draco's murder, only to find Dudley Dursley, his wife and their daughter (whose name Scorpius never knew) checking it out as well. It took one look between the two of them before the larger man walked away, grumbling about how he'd never want his child in a preschool like that. Scorpius had never seen of him ever again and heard of his death about four years later. His daughter had been carelessly given to Fenrir Greyback. The news of that hit Harry hard. It was the first and only time Scorpius had ever seen Harry drunk.

That one time scared Scorpius. He had heard through loud yelling with his Uncle Sev just what had happened to the girl. They used terms he would later understand (and cringe at) before his papa took off into the study. At one point, Scorpius had entered the room to find his papa curled up in one corner, surrounded by several bottles of alcohol. He had yelled at Scorpius to get out of the room. The yelling was never ending that night. He cried and cried and yelled and cried some more and it scared the nine-year-old so much. Harry avoided him completely the next day, but had ended up crawling into bed with him that night. Scorpius never minded it when it happened. They were all they had.

As he got older, it happened less. Then again, as he got older, his friends told him just how abnormal it was. It wasn't right to share your bed with your father. The first time someone accused the two of them of doing obscene things, Scorpius had attacked them. It was never brought up again. His friends had understood. They knew that the two of them missed Draco terribly. They knew how much it hurt Scorpius and his papa to know that Draco was gone. Scorpius was overly thankful for those friends.

"The Dursleys aren't nice people. They hate anything that's different. A child born to two men with magical abilities is beyond their normal. They'd order the baby's death in a heartbeat before allowing it anywhere near them."

Scorpius fell silent at that. He could tell it wasn't exactly the easiest subject for his papa.

So instead, being the wonderful child he was, he changed the topic.

"Are you in love with my dad?"

He was very lucky Harry didn't trip over his own feet.

"I'm going to kill you."

-

Draco was working on yet another potion, thinking over everything so he could get it right. Now that he knew that Harry's Scorpius' father, the younger blonde had no issue with handing over Draco's journal with all the potions inside. He had gone into great detail, explaining why he'd use a specific ingredient over another and why that extra four stirs weren't as stupid as someone would have expected.

As expected, his words were scribbled over in two different styles. The first he recognised as Severus'. The second was new to him, but it screamed out Scorpius. It was as messy as Harry's handwriting with a touch of attempted elegance. Sometimes, he'd write in a cursive style and other times it was hardly legible. But whenever he wrote something, it was in a green ink, so different to the black Draco had used. The strangest part was, however, that it was never the ink from a quill. It appeared to be more of a gel that rolled across the page. Draco had never seen any quill that could do something like that. It was beyond strange.

Then again, he reasoned, he had never lived a day as a Muggle. He had no idea what Scorpius was using since it was most likely a Muggle invention. It nearly disturbed him that his son-the heir to the Malfoy legacy-was raised as a Muggle because his papa was too scared to lose him.

Sure, it made sense, but it would have been torturous.

He had only just finished off the final touch to his potion when the door opened up. Draco barely registered the two others but couldn't stop his smile from taking over his face when a familiar pair of arms wrapped around his torso.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, wondering why his son was holding him as tightly as he was.

"I just wanna hug you," Scorpius replied, his eyes now roaming over the potion before him. "I think you forgot something."

"Go away."

Scorpius ignored him, now leaning forward to take a whiff of the concoction. "I know you forgot something. I wrote in..."

"That's why I didn't do it," Draco told him, his eyes glancing up to Harry and back. "Your extra little bits were to make it tastier. I don't really know why you'd want to make this potion taste any better. Who cares about that sort of stuff?"

"Uncle Sev does. You wouldn't know it, but he adds a lot of extra ingredients into those headache potions he's addicted to. That's where I got these ideas from. Besides, when you're an addict like Uncle Sev is, the taste is really important."

Harry repressed his shudder, trying not to remember what he had walked in on not that long before.

Scorpius sighed heavily, realising his dad wasn't going to listen to him. "It's Christmas in three days," he beamed. "I can't wait." Two pairs of green eyes met each other. "What do you want Harry? Is there anything I can buy you?"

Releasing Scorpius, Draco looked up at Harry as if to ask the same thing. There was a coy smile from Harry that had Draco blushing immediately, causing Scorpius to pretend to vomit.

"You should join us for Christmas morning," Draco suggested as he started to pack away his utensils. He carefully cleaned off his knives and weights before stacking them in the carry case he had. Although Scorpius had his own tools, Draco insisted he used his own. He said something about preferring the feel of his own knives, rather than someone else's. "It'll be good. We're opening the presents here..."

"I've always had Christmas with Ron and Hermione," Harry said, stopping Draco's words. "I don't know...I'd love to, but I don't want to put any strain on our friendship..."

"I can talk to Aunt Hermione," Scorpius offered. "And since she's with Ron, you'll just be the third wheel."

A blonde eyebrow rose at the term. "We need to de-Muggle you," Draco grumbled. "I would love to have my child using wizarding sayings. These Muggle sayings make no sense."

"Yeah, because they really made sense to me when I first got here," Harry commented sarcastically. "When I first met you, you went on about things I had never heard of before. It's about time someone gave it back to you."

"What does not being in that relationship and a wheel have anything to do with each other? It's stupid and he's not allowed to do it anymore."

"It's fine," Harry argued, a smile on his face. "You're not going to get upset over him using Muggle terms. I thought you'd be a little less closed-minded by now."

Draco's jaw slipped open. "I'm doing those things with you, a half-blood. I don't think I'm closed-minded anymore."

"Then shall we go to a Muggle shopping centre to see how accepting you are these days?"

The suggestion wasn't taken too well. "A Muggle shopping centre? Do you have any idea how strange that would be? It'd be like..."

"If Hermione can do it in Diagon Alley, then I'm sure you can manage. Hermione is, after all, a Muggleborn."

Although they were playing, Draco was getting more and more frustrated.

"So are you joining us or not?"

Harry sighed heavily and moved over to Draco, his hand wrapping around Draco's wrist. Whenever they were in front of Scorpius, they had decided on being not-so-physical with each other. Unfortunately, it was a hard feat. The need to touch was overly strong.

"I'll talk to them about it. Okay?"

Draco made a noise to show he accepted that idea before he quickly pressed a kiss to Harry's lips.

"I have to go now, though," Harry continued, feeling warm inside now that Draco had kissed him. He desperately needed at least one kiss from the blonde a day. He was, thankfully, hitting that quota. "Quidditch practise."

Wide green eyes turned to Draco. "Can I go watch? Please?"

His dad sighed. "If it's okay with Harry." There was a shrug to his shoulders.

"Harry?"

"Yeah, sure."

-

The wards in his office were going off. Someone who wasn't meant to be on Hogwarts grounds had entered it through the Forbidden Forest. Albus looked up at one of his several trinkets, which was screaming at him to say that the intrusion had occurred.

He was instantly on his feet, heading to his fireplace to warn the other professors.

-

Draco jolted awake when he heard his door open. He had put as many curses on the door so that no one his age could get in. That meant that it was either Severus or a Death Eater.

What he saw had his blood running cold.

Lucius Malfoy was standing at the foot of his bed before Draco could have reached for his wand. Draco was at the mercy of his father instantly. He could only gape up at the wand pointed at him.

"I have a few questions I need answered," Lucius claimed, not even giving his son a greeting. "You're going to answer each and every one without me hexing you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father," Draco responded once he was capable of doing so. His mouth had gone extremely dry with the shock of it all.

"You've turned your back on your mother and me. Why?"

"I don't want to be a Death Eater..."

"Why not?"

"I don't agree with it. I'm not a killer and I don't believe people should die because of their blood lines..."

"Are you sleeping with Harry Potter?"

That stunned him. He had never expected his father to be so upfront with that question.

"I'm not."

"Then what is your relationship with him?"

Draco observed his father's face as he spoke. There was no emotion in his voice and even less on his face. He was interrogating his son as if he was the enemy.

"My relationship...?"

"Yes. Your relationship."

Draco had to consider if he was going to answer that one truthfully. "We're...it's complicated..."

"Do you intend to sleep with him?"

That dried Draco's mouth again. "...yes."

The wand in Lucius' hand quivered lightly. "Your mother and I are so disappointed in you, Draco. You are our son. I'm not going to let this happen. You're not allowed to have that kind of relationship with him. You are to capture him when you get the chance..."

"I'm not doing that, father," Draco objected, shocking himself. He was incredibly new to this 'openly defying his father' thing. "Harry Potter is my future."

Lucius' mouth lost the tightness it had had before. "What kind of trickery has he used on you, Draco?" His voice wasn't calm at all. "For you to say such things...it's madness. I taught you how to overcome the Imperius Curse. I taught you that a long time ago. This makes no sense..."

"It's love."

That halted the older blonde completely. "_Love_?" The word was spat out as if it was a bitter taste in Lucius' mouth.

"Something happened, father, and I love him. He loves me, too..."

"I have been aware of your homosexuality for a while now, Draco, and I'll have you know it's not appropriate for a Malfoy to be that way. You cannot create an heir with a man and I would die long before I will see you _loving_ Harry Potter. He is the enemy, you insipid boy!"

"What if I could have a child with him? What if, by some creative force, someone makes it possible?"

"Draco! I am here because the Dark Lord has told me I must disown you or kill you if you continue this. Your mother will not have me disown you and abandon you like some creature meant for the streets and I don't wish to kill you. However, I have very little choice, boy."

"I'm not meant to be a Death Eater," Draco told him simply. "I don't agree with the Dark Lord's cause. I love the enemy as you said. Disown me, father, but do not kill me. Not for another ten years. If the war isn't finished by then, you can kill me. I'll find you myself so you can do it. But please, wait until then."

Lucius couldn't believe what his son was saying. It made no sense for the boy to want this.

"Draco...what do you know?"

The younger Malfoy was glad his father couldn't read his mind. Images of Scorpius flashed in his head. He knew Harry Potter was his future husband, and that Scorpius was to be born in five years. But he couldn't tell his father any of this. He shuddered to think what his father would tell the Dark Lord.

Then again, if he could convince his father of Scorpius' existence, then maybe the other man would understand where he was coming from.

"What if...what if I knew something that would change your mind?"

"Change my mind about what?"

"About the Dark Lord and what he's trying to do. What if...what if I knew something about the future?"

"How would you know these things? Are you that advanced with your potions that you created one that allows you to see these things?"

That was a pretty good way to get around the Scorpius issue, Draco realised. He could tell Lucius all he wanted without revealing that Scorpius was in his life.

"Yes. My child..."

"Child?"

"A boy. Scorpius. I called him Scorpius James. He's my baby boy with Harry, Father. We get married and have him together in five years. He's the most amazing thing that could and will ever happen in my life." Even as he spoke, he could feel the smile growing on his face. "He's identical to me, but he has Harry's eyes and his height. He's my baby boy, Father. I'm his dad and Harry's his papa. The Dark Lord...the Dark Lord kills me in ten years because I'm Harry's husband. He kills me and our second baby. Our unborn daughter."

He could see his father falling to pieces at this information.

"Children? How is that possible?"

"I'm going to create a potion that takes away the DNA of the surrogate mother and replaces it with the other man's. Father, we're so happy together. I might only live to see the first five years of Scorpius' life..."

Both of them looked at Lucius' wand. It was glowing lightly. The Malfoy patriarch hissed out a curse before he turned away.

"Dumbledore's noticed me," he muttered. "Draco, I can't do anything about prolonging your time. I'll tell the Dark Lord this, but I can't guarantee that I won't be back to finish what I should have done here."

"Of course," Draco breathed, lowering his head. "And I'm sorry. I must have caused you and mother so much trouble."

That was the last Draco said before Lucius disappeared through the door.

-

Christmas Day came, and Harry was there with Draco and Scorpius for it. The moment Lucius was gone from the grounds, Draco had gone to Scorpius and had curled up in bed with him. The next morning, Harry had walked in and listened to the other teen.

They put that behind them, though, since the Christmas celebration was supposed to be a time of cheer.

"I'm surprised wizards celebrate Christmas," Harry admitted, sitting next to Scorpius as he opened his presents from his parents. "I thought it was a Muggle thing with the religion and all."

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind any reason to get presents."

Harry gave the blonde a grin, leaning over to kiss him just as Scorpius got through to a new cauldron.

"Oh wow," Scorpius smiled, his hands nearly trembling. "This is amazing. It's a classic..."

Draco broke away from Harry to glare at the younger teen. "Are you serious? That's the best on the line at the moment."

"At the moment, Dad. I'm used to the things of the future."

Harry laughed before he made eye contact with Draco.

"I think he's a little ungrateful."

"So I've noticed."

They kissed briefly again.

"I hope your father..."

"Can we not talk about that, Harry?" Draco asked quickly, not wanting anything to do with his father. If what Draco had told him didn't convince him, he would willingly accept the disowning. However, he was happy with Harry and Scorpius, and was looking forward to their future together. It was everything he could have wanted.

"Scorpius, I hope your papa's good in bed."

The blonde teen, who had been sipping on his Christmas beverage, nearly choked, his eyes watering as he struggled for air.

"Is that really something you should be saying? I mean, that's just wrong. How can you say that in front of your kid? That's just..."

Harry wrapped his arms tighter around Draco, his teeth instantly clamping onto Draco's earlobe.

"You git," Draco hissed in pain.

"Scorpius was right. That was completely inappropriate. I'm sure I'm excellent in bed," Harry countered.

He caught Draco's eyes. "Are you sure you're his papa?"

"I better be."

It made Draco's heart beat faster.

The man really wanted to have a family with him.

It was the most perfect Christmas he could ever imagine.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Hades

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Sorry I couldn't respond to any reviews last week...I had perhaps two seconds to post the chapter before midnight and I'm overly anal about posting no later than Friday...it's just...I lost my muse somewhere in the week and I had only written one page...had to do the other five on Friday and that was overly hard since I was still unmotivated...I mean, I had never intended on Lucius popping up in this story, but now he's an essential part and I'm having to reconsider a whole bunch of things, but I like how it's turning out now...I hope...**

**Anyway! This is here a day early since I have an exam tomorrow and then I'm partying all night, so I wouldn't be able to post this before Friday (see anal part above...). Depending on how well the writing goes, I might be able to give you guys two chapters next week since I'm feeling good that I won't have to worry about uni until March next year...yatta!!**

**xAkireix: Now that Lucius is a huge part of this, you can be guaranteed that he won't be an arse...he's very rarely an arse in my fics...**

**Saki-18: I don't intend on having my chapters shorter and shorter by the week...it's just happening! I fear I'm losing interest in this story...**

**Sakuramar: Get out of my mind...here's the drama you predicted...**

**Khiela: All I can say regarding your (wow) review is that I update every Friday without fail. I'm not one of those authors who'll keep you on a cliffy for six months at a time (friggin' authors who make us wait a year!! Should be shot, damn them!) And that means that this will be done very soon.**

**Wow, peoples! This is the fifteenth chapter out of the twenty-one chapters I have planned. Only six more weeks to go!!**

**I would also like to make it clear that Harry **_**doesn't**_** know that Scorpius is his son. He believes it, but hasn't received any confirmation...yet...**

-

**Chapter Fifteen: Hades, Greek God of Death**

**-**

_I don't know how many times my memory's been wiped of this incident, but it always manages to come back to me. _

_It happened the day after Uncle Sev told me that Dad was dead. He said that Dad wasn't coming back. Papa was crying too much to tell me anything. _

_Everyone had tried to comfort me, but it was obvious Papa needed more help. I didn't understand death back then. All I knew was that Dad wasn't coming back and that he wouldn't be able to finish that book off. _

_That morning, though, when Papa was sitting at the table, crying, I found a box in the hallway. It came up to my knees. It was a simple cardboard box with the lid folded shut. As any child my age would have done, I opened it._

_And this is where it gets a bit fuzzy. I opened it; I can remember my hands fumbling with the edges. I reached in and my fingers brushed someone so smooth. It was just like Dad. That was the initial thought I had. Whatever it was, it reminded me of Dad's hair. And it looked like it, too._

_The further down I reached, the wetter the box got. The sensation of soft hair thinned until I felt something cold. I needed both of my hands to pull whatever it was out of the box. _

_Thanks to my altered memory, all I get after that is a flashing image of Dad's face, followed by my screams. I can't remember how quick Papa was to get to my side, to scoop me up and hold me close. I don't have a clue how long that took, but I know I was screaming for my dad long after Papa had carried me up the stairs. He was telling me to stay calm, to focus on him. _

_My hands were wet and my rear was cold. I was sitting on the bathroom bench and he was washing my hands and up my arms. He had taken my shirt off and had burned it with a spell. Then he washed my neck and my chin. I didn't realise I had gotten them dirty, but when he pulled the cloth back, it was red. _

_He kept kissing my forehead, telling me it would be alright. Something kept telling me that it wasn't. My eyes were burning with tears and my throat...I must have been crying for a very long time. _

_I was put in his and Dad's bed, where I curled up around Dad's pillow. He then magically put me to sleep, giving me a potion. _

_-_

_When I went downstairs after that, I couldn't find the box. There was something in it that I wanted to see. _

_Papa and Uncle Severus were talking in the lounge. I found the two of them there, with Papa curled up in the corner. He was holding something to his chest, rocking back and forth. Uncle Severus wasn't happy._

"_You have to give it to me," he told Papa, who looked up at him and cried._

"_But she's my baby girl," Papa replied, shaking harder. "She's mine and Draco's..."_

"_It's a corpse, Harry."_

_He held whatever it was closer to his chest. "She's Lily!"_

_I don't remember much after that._

_When I started dreaming of this, Papa took me to a doctor and he erased my memory. It happened at least once a year. Papa didn't want me remembering this at all. Thing is, though, I might have forgotten the main images or the facts, but I remembered what I felt. Papa would hear me screaming in the middle of the night and would shake me out of it before he carried me off to his bed again. They were the only times I slept in his bed. _

_But when he died, and I had the nightmare again, I asked Uncle Severus, who finally told me the whole story. _

_Voldemort had sent that box to our home. They never figured out how it got in or how whoever delivered it got through the safeguards, but it was definitely from him. _

_There were two things inside the box. What I had touched-grabbed out of the bloody thing was Dad's head. When Papa had found me, I was cuddling it, crying and screaming. The front of my shirt was covered in blood. _

_The second thing was the 'it' Uncle Severus was talking about. Voldemort had forcibly removed my baby sister from the womb and had snapped her neck in front of Dad. He then had her body sent to our house with Dad's head. They did a DNA test on it and everything. The thing Papa was holding was Lily's corpse._

_When he died, I had no one to comfort me after I dreamt about it. _

-

Scorpius jolted awake, screaming and shaking.

-

Unlike his counterpart, Harry wasn't used to people crawling into bed with him. So when he felt the mattress dip, he was up with his wand pointed towards the intruder.

He quickly dropped the wand when he saw the two emeralds staring back at him.

"Scorpius?" he hissed moments before the blonde teen tackled him, forcing him to lie back on his bed. Within seconds, Scorpius had broken down, sobbing into his shoulder.

Hastily, Harry ensured their privacy with several silencing spells and made sure no one could enter past his curtains.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, holding his son tightly. Scorpius couldn't get any information out, so he just cried, his hands clutching at Harry's nightshirt. "Okay, okay."

Harry rocked the two of them together in a comforting pace, his hands running up and down Scorpius' back and arms.

"Is it your dad? Did something happen to him? Is he okay?"

The blonde still couldn't say a thing.

"Was it a nightmare? Please, tell me Scorpius. I'm worried about your dad."

Scorpius nodded his head, his sobs getting stronger.

Harry let out a relieved breath. He had gotten really concerned for Draco's health. He wrapped his arms tighter around the child, knowing exactly how he was feeling. Harry had battled with his own nightmares for years and with the past Scorpius had had, it came as no surprise that he suffered from them as well.

And whatever this nightmare had been, it was hell.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it; I never really wanted to talk about mine, either. Everyone wanted me to talk it through with them-they thought it'd make it easier-but I know it doesn't work that way. The only way for it to get better is with time. Isn't that right? I guess life for you wasn't the easiest thing. Your papa doesn't seem like the most understanding of fathers and you lost your dad at such a young age." He smoothed Scorpius' hair back, trying his hardest to comfort the other boy. "You can go back to sleep, Scorpius. I'm right here. It'll be okay....we'll have breakfast in a few hours and then we'll go see your dad."

"No!"

Scorpius shook violently as he objected to that.

"Was it a nightmare about your dad?" Harry asked softly. He felt the other teen still for a moment. "Then we don't have to see him until you're ready to." The way Harry's hands would play with Scorpius' hair started to comfort him. It was no different from how his papa used to treat him.

"I lost someone I loved a few years ago," Harry continued. "And I wouldn't talk about it. Thinking back on it, I probably acted a bit like a brat when it first happened. I didn't want to admit that he was gone. I guess you were too young to realise what was happening when your dad died...."

"He didn't die," Scorpius interrupted. "He was killed. Murdered. There's a difference between dying and being murdered. Death is natural. Murdering is unforgivable. You take away more than just one life when you kill someone. You take away all the souls attached to that one person. My papa felt like he couldn't breathe half of the time after Dad was killed. Murderers take everything...and what they give back..." Scorpius' words broke off as he started to cry harder.

It was then that Harry realised the nightmare wasn't just a dream. Whatever that boy had dreamt about, he had also lived through.

He could only wonder what had been 'given back'.

"Murderers deserve to see the faces of everyone they've ever hurt. They deserve their souls taken away from them. Voldemort should be tortured for the end of time. He should be forced to feel what it's like to lose a loved one. He should know pain and suffering...my parents never deserved to go through what he did to them!"

It was Harry's first time seeing Scorpius so distressed. He was too used to seeing the blonde teen smile. These tears certainly didn't suit him at all. But he knew what he was going through. How many times did Harry wish he wasn't who he was? And if Scorpius really was his son, then the poor kid would have gone through just as much, solely because of who his parents were. The combination of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy wouldn't have been overlooked by Voldemort. He would have wanted the life of the child created by his mortal enemy and his betrayer.

That reminded him of a time when Scorpius admitted he had been a secret to the Wizarding world. Voldemort had never discovered him. He had found out about Lily by pure chance-a spy who had spotted Draco in the Muggle world. Scorpius, though, had been forced out of the public eye to keep him safe. Had he gone to Hogwarts, everyone would have known who he was and word would have gotten back to Voldemort. It made perfect sense to Harry to keep Scorpius away from that attention.

And that had Harry cringing. If Harry was Scorpius' papa, then he was an absolute idiot for what he had done to his son. The boy had hated his life. He wasn't allowed to do anything he wanted to do. The Muggle friends weren't allowed to visit and he was rarely allowed out of the house. He had also hated his life at school. And it was all because of his overprotective papa. Sure, his papa had done the right thing in that Scorpius was a child that would have needed all of that protection, but to take away his happiness as well was something Harry-was something his papa-would have regretted right up until the moment Voldemort killed him.

Harry let out a deep breath, so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realise that Scorpius had stopped crying. His body would give out the slightest of sobs, but he was in a deep sleep, holding on to Harry's nightshirt like it was his protection. Harry's arms held Scorpius to his chest as he looked over him.

-

He wanted to turn away from the accusations held in those eyes. It might have been an arranged marriage, but there were still some things within his wife that Lucius didn't want to evoke.

Such as her wrath.

Emotionally, the two were never a loving pair. In fact, he normally found the woman too dull. She wanted money, so she got her money. He let her shop and gossip and hold as many cocktail parties as she wanted to. He kept her far away from his business and she kept him away from her friends. That's how it was. The only thing the two of them had a say in was their child.

Lucius was thankful both he and Narcissa were fertile. It took only one shot for her to fall pregnant. While Lucius wasn't one for romanticism in bed, Narcissa was. Their sex life was non-existent. In fact, they had only ever copulated once and that was the night of their wedding. Narcissa had insisted on the wedding of her dreams and that involved the consummation of it. Little did she know, her new husband intended on nothing more than leaving his seed inside her that one time and it was over before she could fulfil her dreams.

Oh, how she teased him for years afterwards on how quickly _he_ had finished, especially when she came home from one of her many affairs.

The affairs never bothered Lucius. Hell, he was involved in several of them over the years. They'd act like a perfectly married couple in public and during Narcissa's parties, but the truth of it was that they slept in different quarters of the manner and divulged in their own sexual partners, who the other would never meet, save for one time. One of Lucius' one night stands had refused to leave before breakfast. She had come downstairs to greet Narcissa and brag about how good a night she had had. That, of course, brought up the night of Draco's conception, causing the (much) younger woman to brag again. This time, she was praising Lucius' stamina, causing Narcissa to see red.

However, Draco never knew about any of this. When he was at home with them, Lucius stayed in his pants and Narcissa put her knees together. They were the image of loyalty. Hell, they even went to Lucius' bedroom (Draco didn't have a clue Narcissa used the fireplace in Lucius' room to Floo over to her quarters) when they retired for the night.

But the news of Draco's betrayal had upset the both of them. Narcissa knew that her son would soon be targeted by the Death Eaters and Lucius knew he would look bad in front of his master for raising such a disappointment to the cause.

Hearing Draco's side of the story, though, changed things for Lucius. His son knew about his child. He knew about the child he and Harry Potter were meant to have together. And now, Lucius knew. Narcissa knew. The two of them had discussed this in Lucius' study. The idea of them being grandparents had been a given. Of course their son was to reproduce. It was the way of the Malfoys. They were to produce an heir when the time was appropriate. Only, they were meant to choose Draco's wife. He wasn't supposed to have a say in it, much like Lucius and Narcissa. That was simply the way of the Malfoys, and had been for generations before Draco.

Scorpius. That was the name of his future grandchild. It was his own middle name. The boy was named after him. The boy was the reason why his son had turned against him.

Narcissa instantly wanted him. She wanted nothing more than to speed up the years so that she could see her one and only grandson. She wanted to see the child their lord kills.

And Lucius wanted to as well.

However, the boy was part Muggle. He was the son of Harry Potter. His grandchildren were fathered by Harry Potter. It was perhaps his greatest nightmare. Lucius would have preferred his son sleeping and procreating with a Squib or a Muggle. They could have been disowned or denied. But he had claimed to love the Gryffindor Golden Child. His son was in love with their lord's enemy. He had admitted it.

Narcissa's eyes continued to burn over him.

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Lucius asked, running his hand over the back of his neck.

It was rare that the two of them came to an agreement over things. Narcissa was a follower. When it came up to the greater decisions like these, she was to listen to Lucius. But when things involved Draco, it got a little complicated.

"I don't want to follow a creature that will kill our son and our granddaughter," Narcissa claimed. "I don't want to do that at all. I care about my boy. I birthed him, Lucius. He's important to me and any child he has is just as loved, regardless to who the other parent is."

Lucius nodded his head, agreeing with his wife. "Our son is our future..."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Lucius. I don't want to hear that he's our future. Having a child or not doesn't validate his life at all. It doesn't make him more our son and it shouldn't base how much we love him."

The man leant back in his chair with a deep sigh. Behind him, the fire crackled warmly, basking them in a light that made their ethereal skin look darker. "My love for my son should not be questioned, Narcissa. Draco means the world to me. And his children...my grandchildren..."

"We cannot follow the man who'd hurt or kill our family."

"I'm well aware of that." He rubbed at his forehead, suddenly feeling his age. "We can't turn our backs on the Dark Lord. We'll be ostracised like Draco's been for the past few months. I am willing to prevent any attack on him if it's possible..."

"You had better put your life on the line for him, Lucius! I want these grandchildren. We know he has two babies. I want Draco to be happy. If he loves Potter as much as he told you he does, we must make sure it happens."

And that thought hurt Lucius' head. He wasn't happy with his family when they forced him into the marriage with Narcissa. He knew Draco would hate him just as much if they did the same to him. Especially when they knew he already had a lover.

His arm burned, stopping his thoughts. Flinching as if it was something new to him, he looked up at his wife. Narcissa had never been Marked. That was how it was. If they were Death Eaters by association through marriage, there was no real need for the women to become Death Eaters. They were merely meant to be the incubators for future Death Eaters. Only the most avid of females were Marked and Narcissa wasn't one of them.

"That'll probably be him complaining about Draco's unwillingness to play friendly," Narcissa commented snidely, standing from her chair. "Give him the bird from me when you go crawling to him, would you? You can't allow him to end our boy's life any time soon. He begged for ten years, didn't he?"

Lucius just shook his head before he stood, downing the large whiskey he had put aside, and then Apparated to where his master was waiting.

-

It was a routine Severus was getting used to. Slipping out of Remus' arms was getting easier and easier. Whenever he felt that sting in his arm, he manoeuvred himself out of their room as best as he was able to, without waking the werewolf.

Ever since Tonks had caught them in bed together, Remus had moved into Severus' quarters with him. Neither made any sort of fuss over it, though Remus did catch Draco's look-a-like smirking at him from the darkened corner of his classroom one morning. Tonks was the only one who made any sort of commotion from Remus' extracurricular activities with Severus, pouting about it for a few weeks. She quickly transferred from working as the Ministry's eye on Dumbledore to protecting Muggle politicians. Of course, she wasn't forfeiting her place in the Order; she just couldn't cope with the Hogwarts life anymore. She didn't even bother to get an explanation from Remus, and that suited him just fine. He had moved in with Severus the very next day and that was it.

But as the month passed, Voldemort seemed to be getting more and more anxious. The further his snake got in her human transformation, the more pissed off he got. It wasn't going as well as he had hoped, Severus had noticed, and he wasn't too sure if Voldemort was doing it for his lover's sake or if it was to prove himself better than the man who had originally succeeded. Word quickly got out that this wizened sorcerer had indeed been Dumbledore, which assisted Severus' theory. He had to admit, though, the relationship between the Dark Lord and Nagini was beyond twisted. Now that she was more humanoid, their interactions were becoming more human, as well. It turned his stomach to think that he once followed a man who had fallen in love with an animal.

Moving nearly mechanically now, Severus got himself dressed and ready to leave, only to pause when he saw Remus' eyes on him. Apparently he had roused his lover.

"Come back safely," Remus said softly and Severus had to fight off the smile that threatened to take over his mouth.

He loved Remus. Plainly and simply. And to hear him be so concerned about his health warmed his heart in a way Severus didn't think was possible. Yes, he had been hit by Cupid's arrow once before, but this time it was returned. Remus loved him as much as he loved Remus and that really had his stomach flipping with butterflies and everything else that was good.

Severus knelt on the bed, pressing his lips to Remus'. "Of course I will," he promised, running his hand through Remus' messy hair. They always managed to make love, no matter what. It was just how they were.

He left, seeing Remus' concerned face as he did, knowing that he had something to come back to. It made all the difference when he thought about it that way. Long ago, he was nothing more than a spy. Now, he had a lover to come home to. He had someone who would miss him if he were to die. Imagining if Remus was the one in that position made it clear to him that he had to return, no matter what He wouldn't live if Remus was to be taken away from him. He had no idea how Potter had lived through that. Ten years is a hell of a long time to go without your lover. Severus mightn't like the Gryffindor, but he had to admire the strength of the boy in the future for hanging on that long.

-

It was a new sensation to him, and one he didn't expect to get used to. Waking up with someone in his arms was the strangest thing in Harry's mind, especially when he suspected that person was his own son. He groaned lightly, wondering where his arm had gone. He had no sensation in his right forearm since Scorpius' head was on his elbow.

"Heavy lump," he chuckled, pushing at the blonde. Scorpius merely groaned and moved along Harry's arm, stopping at his wrist. That just caused Harry to push him straight off the bed.

"Bastard!" Scorpius hissed upon landing, though still within the protection of Harry's curtains. He noticed the redness of the room and turned up to see Harry looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry...but you shouldn't have pushed me out, you know? I was highly distressed last night..." He trailed off, not wanting to get onto that subject.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "How about we head down to breakfast, hmm? I bet your dad's really worried about you."

In perhaps the cutest way Harry had ever seen, Scorpius' face scrunched, showing how much he disapproved of that. "He's been on my case ever since he told my grandfather about me. He lied to him about how he knew about me, but he's still really cautious about it now. He has to see me every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed. It wasn't even my screw up. It was all his."

Harry rolled out of bed, grasping Scorpius' forearm as he pulled the boy onto his feet. "How did you even get in here, anyway?"

"Aunt Hermione tells me the password every time it changes so I can come in here whenever I want." It was said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh."

And with that, Harry found the discarded Invisibility Cloak and threw it over the teen's shoulders before he pushed him out of the curtain.

The moment Scorpius straightened, he felt his stomach turn. Something was wrong again.

-

Lucius looked down at the potion in his hand. Potion was probably the wrong noun. _Poison_ was a better word for it. It was designed to bring a slow and painful death to anyone who ingested it. He had been given the vial by Voldemort and was told to use it on his son. The Dark Lord had been interested to see that the blonde man had gotten in and out of the castle without a single curse fired at him. So, he had given him the task of doing so again, but this time, he was to hand it over to a student so that Draco would die.

It took all of his willpower not to throw the damned thing on the marble floor beneath him. He was supposed to be the executioner for his own son. It was tearing him apart.

-

"Maybe we should take you to Snape," Harry suggested, his hand rubbing up and down Scorpius' back as the blonde was sick in a hidden part of the hallway.

"No," Scorpius argued, wiping at the back of his hand. He was glad it was still there. It had disappeared at least twice since they had gotten out of the Tower. "No. I'll be fine."

"Fine? You've been ill four times down this hall. That's not fine, Scorpius."

"I wanna see Dad, okay? Just...I'll be okay getting there. After that nightmare, I just wanna see him and hug him."

Harry sighed, waving his wand to clean up the mess. "Okay then. Come on. We gotta get you down to breakfast. It's a good thing it's a Saturday, eh?"

Scorpius slipped the Cloak back over his head and heading towards the Great Hall, intent on keeping his stomach in check long enough to see his dad.

He didn't have to look too far to find him.

Draco approached Harry, looking as worried as Harry had ever seen him.

"Scorpius...?"

"It's okay," Harry told him, watching as Draco's body was bumped in to. "He had a nightmare and came to me..."

"That's not your place, Harry," Draco hissed suddenly. "You should have told me straight away-I was so worried when I came in to check on him this morning."

"So you expected me to go all the way down to the dungeons with him even though he barely had it in him to tell me that he had a nightmare? He didn't want to talk about it and he didn't want to be babied. He just wanted someone to hold him."

"And he had to go all the way up to Gryffindor Tower to find someone to do that?" Draco paused when he heard a stifled sob against his chest. "I was really worried about you, Scorp. Some of the Slytherins were going on about a surprise visit they had last night. I was scared..."

"Stop fighting," Scorpius hiccupped, causing the two of them to stop whatever they were saying or what they were going to say. "It-it's happening again, Dad, so stop fighting."

"What's happening?" Harry asked. "Scorpius? Are you feeling sick again?"

"You were sick?" Worried grey eyes turned up towards Harry. "He gets like this when we fight...he starts to disappear and he gets ill...we think it's because he won't be born if we continue..." Draco suddenly paused, realising what he was admitting to.

"So-so I'm his papa?"

Even though there weren't many people in the Great Hall, there were enough to see the two of them talking like this. The rumours had spread a long time ago that something was happening between them, but no one really had any proof. Now, they were talking about something no one could understand, and it was grabbing the attention of several people.

"Are you disappearing, Scorp?" Draco questioned, ignoring Harry.

"Yes," came the response, muffled by Draco's chest and the Cloak. Again, Draco looked at Harry.

"You have to want him as our child, Harry. He's our baby..."

"What do you mean by disappearing? How the hell can he disappear?" Harry demanded to know.

"That's not important at the moment..."

"It's important if it's happening to _my child_."

Draco nearly stumbled back as he felt Scorpius crash into him. "Stop fighting." His voice wavered as if he was about to cry again. "Please. It's getting worse. I-I can't see my arms...they're gone."

That was it for Harry. He grabbed the Cloak, regardless of the fact they were in the Great Hall, and whipped it off the boy.

Albus stood up from where he was sitting at the staff table, nearly in shock. Revealing Scorpius was perhaps the last thing he expected of Harry. Secondary to that, though, he was beyond shocked to see that Scorpius' entire body was nearly translucent. It was if he was fading away.

"Potter!" Draco hissed, trying to cover his son back up. Harry refused to give him back the Cloak.

The Gryffindor, however, was having a hard time breathing. Scorpius was disappearing before his very eyes.

"How do we stop it?" he asked Draco softly.

"It normally gets better when we stop fighting, Harry..."

"He was sick long before we even saw each other today."

The blonde was at a loss. "Then I don't know..."

All eyes had turned to the three of them. It was an unexpected turn of events, what with a see-through Draco Malfoy lookalike standing between the two former enemies and all. The first to move towards them were Ron and Hermione, who tried to guide them out of the public eye. They didn't need this information to get out into the papers or to the Death Eaters. Scorpius' life was in danger the moment he had been revealed.

Worst yet, he was disappearing more and more as the time went past.

"You have to want him as your child," Draco told Harry softly. "You know he's your kid; you've always known..."

The third person to move, Theo, had paused at the softly spoken words.

"I know...I want him," Harry replied, reaching out for his son. "He's our son."

"And me?"

"You're my lover-my future husband. I know this-I've accepted this, Draco...! Why is he still disappearing?"

There was no trace of calmness in Harry's voice.

Scorpius couldn't remember a time where Harry was so confused. His papa had always been in control when it came up to his life. He always knew what to do to keep him safe. And now, there were no answers. Scorpius couldn't be put into a glass box when they didn't know why he was in danger. He was disappearing and there seemed to be nothing they could do about it.

"Papa," Scorpius suddenly sobbed before he was gone.

Before they knew it, they were staring at an empty space where their son had once been.

-

Lucius looked down at the vial sitting on the bedside table. He didn't know which Slytherin child it belonged to, but he was hoping that it wasn't a Death Eater. He hoped that with everything he had. The man had no idea of the commotion happening up in the Great Hall. All he knew was that he had to talk to Draco. In his pocket, he had a second vial; this one containing the smallest drop of potion in it. With luck and the talent his son had, he'd be able to analyse it and come up with a cure before he ingested that hellacious poison.

-

**And there's the drama that was expected...Scorp is gone! **

**Reviews are always appreciated...! I hope this was longer...seven pages is a good amount...and there's hardly any dialogue, so this is a chunky chapter...!**

**See you next Friday...or sooner....XD**


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Calypso

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Oh my God!! I've had the hiccups through most of this chapter...!! **

**Duchess of the Twilight: Thanks for the good luck...I ended up running late but was the first out of the room...I thought I did really well until I looked up a few words in my dictionary and the kanji...and then I realised I did a really crap job at it...lol**

**Kheila: I shall take that gun...thanks. XD And I'm sorry to break your heart. I swear, everything will turn out alright...**

**MOTF: I'm sorry...I didn't expect such a reaction to be honest...**

**I promise you all that there will be a happy ending to this story!! I only have one plot that turns out bad for our boys...and this isn't it...!!**

-

**Chapter Sixteen: Calypso, Greek Goddess of Silence**

-

Draco curled up tighter on his side under his blankets. He and Harry hadn't spoken since the incident in the Great Hall two weeks ago. The moment Scorpius had disappeared from their lives, Draco had broken down. He had risked everything for that boy and now he was gone. Worse, Harry refused to acknowledge him. Or at least, that was how Draco saw it. Hermione had sought him out to tell him that he wasn't being avoided; the revelation of Scorpius had gotten back to Voldemort and they were doing everything they could to keep Draco safe. That included Harry not attending classes and spending most of his time out in the field, capturing as many Death Eaters as he possibly could.

Normally, Draco would have felt honoured over this. The great and powerful Harry Potter was doing everything he could to make sure that he was safe.

But still, it felt like he was avoiding the blonde, and that just made him feel awful.

His depression had kept him in his room most of the time. He didn't have meals with the other Slytherins. Occasionally, Theo would bring him dinner and some snacks, but that was as far as eating went. He still attended _most_ of his classes, but the professors understood the problem.

It wasn't everyday you saw your son disappear in the middle of the Great Hall. And to Draco, it was the equivalent of the other boy dying. Of course, they had been briefed by Albus about what had happened, and they fully understood why both Draco and Harry wouldn't be in class most of the time.

His behaviour really worried Theo, though. The other teen would watch over him as much as he possibly could, but the blonde was withering away before his eyes. At first, Theo had been thoroughly pissed off that Scorpius wasn't his kid and that Draco had known all along, but then he realised why Draco hadn't told him. No one was supposed to know their future that way.

And yet, Draco had been given his journal from the future. He knew details no one should know about their lives prematurely. Not surprisingly, though, everything Scorpius had brought with him had disappeared just as he did.

So many possibilities as to why that happened went through Draco's mind. The first was the fighting. They hadn't really been fighting. There wasn't even a disagreement in there. So that option didn't really work out.

There was always the possibility of the potion wearing off. And damn it if Draco didn't hope that was what had happened. Every other option was a bad option.

And then, there was always the chance that something had happened beyond their control, which had changed the future. That, of course, led the train of thoughts to his father. What had Lucius done to change the future so much? Was it an attack on Harry that never happened in Scorpius' time? Or was it something on Draco instead?

Whatever had happened, it had taken his son away from him, which made Draco a very depressed young man.

The Slytherin students continued to eye him up as if he was the devil amongst devout Catholics. It wasn't a good sign for him. They knew he was with Harry Potter.

Well, to say 'with' would be to assume that they were dating or sleeping together or something of the sort. In all actuality, they were separated for the time being. Going through a rough patch, so to say, since communication hadn't happened in two weeks. It should have warmed Draco's heart to know that Harry was trying so hard because of him, but all it did was remind him how lonely he was.

More than once, he had suffered from the Slytherin's malice. They had once again taken to shoving him around in the classroom now that they knew his hidden bodyguard wasn't around. Harry's own disappearing act also eased them into thinking they could get away with anything. Worse yet, Severus had only really been able to discipline two acts, which got both students expelled. While Draco had been bent over his cauldron, someone had come up behind him and had dribbled down his back a volatile potion. It quickly burnt away his skin, leaving him in agonising pain. The fifth-year boy, who was supposed to be in Charms, claimed he had no idea what had happened and why he had been there. It had landed Draco in the medical wing for one night while Poppy patched him back up. He was gone by the morning, not wanting to stay in the one place for too long.

The other student had approached him in the same manner, but had slipped his hand under Draco's pants, grabbing at his rear and muttering what he'd do to him if they were alone. That boy, a sixth-year this time, claimed the same story as the other had and was meant to be in Herbology. However, sexual assault wasn't taken lightly, and the boy had been sent home, never to return to Hogwarts.

Severus had kept his eye on the students when they were around Draco. God, he wanted to kill all of them for treating him that way, but had to keep his distance for his position's sake. Luckily, the acts committed by those two students couldn't have been ignored, so he got to punish them as grandly as he saw fit. However, with both of them insisting their innocence, it made him wonder if someone was using the Unforgivables in his classroom. The idea had been reported to Albus, and the old man promised to look into it. It didn't comfort Severus at all to know that, but it was the best they could do for now.

All in all, Draco really wanted Scorpius and Harry back in his life.

His back had healed, mostly, but there were still some parts that stung like all hell in the shower since he left the medical wing earlier than he really should have. Nonetheless, he felt the other attack was worse. For someone to touch him like that...he shuddered at the memory. It burnt more than the potion down his back did. And it was the bad burn, not Harry's good burn.

Dear Merlin, Harry knew about their future together. Draco turned on his back and covered his eyes with his arm. Harry knew that he knew. He knew that he had known for a while. Draco's arm slipped away from his eyes and his fingers trailed his lips. It had been fifteen days since he had last kissed his future husband. _Fifteen_ days. He hated it with a passion. He needed Harry more than anything.

The dreams he had weren't enough. Sure, he's always wake up hot and hard and needing, and he'd always tend to his body's desires, but it certainly wasn't enough. He wanted to feel those lips burning against his own. Hell, he just wanted to see the other teen again, even if it was nothing more than a fleeting glance.

-

Swearing under his breath, Harry dodged a fourth beam of green light aimed at his chest. He had stumbled upon a large group of Death Eaters on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Just as he and Remus were returning after a long night of work, they had found these extra ones. Albus, Minerva and Hagrid moved as quickly as they could after the sirens went off in Albus' office, but the Death Eaters had noticed the two Gryffindors before they had arrived. Thankfully, the centaurs weren't at all happy with the intrusion of their land, and had come to the support of Harry. In his life, Harry had never seen so many arrows flying through the air. Not even in the movies he watched when the Dursleys were out of the house. The centaurs were highly pissed.

This, of course, was a good thing for Harry and Remus. The centaurs didn't have any qualms with destroying Voldemort's slaves. They were considered lesser beings in the Dark Lord's mind and other clans had been wiped out thanks to the Death Eaters. Oh, they were all too happy to support Harry. The deaths of so many unicorns all those years ago helped with their decisions, as well. It was common knowledge that it had been Voldemort who had been drinking the blood of the unicorns. Everything in that damned forest was overly protective of the innocently fragile creatures, and thoroughly enjoyed destroying anything that threatened them.

But then he ran into the one thing that could make him stop. Piercing silver eyes stared at him from under the mask of a Death Eater. His feet stopped moving, the curses halted, his brain died and his breathing paused. He had gone so long without seeing Draco, yet those eyes were there. The eyes of a Malfoy.

Only, he had to look up at them. Lucius Malfoy.

They were angry, confused. So unlike the loving looks Draco would give him.

And yet, they were familiar. They had a spark in them Harry never thought he would have seen from this particular man. He had gotten used to it with Draco, but had never expected it from Lucius.

It was the same look Draco had in his eyes whenever their family was mentioned.

For the briefest of moments, Lucius' eyes widened and Harry's senses returned to him. It was too late. He couldn't dodge the blast of green coming from his right. His own eyes barely took in the slight flick of Lucius' wand moments before he was thrown away from the curse.

He heard the angry cries coming from the original attacker, who started yelling at Lucius for interfering. Harry had ran from the area as Lucius' calm voice

They stopped using the Killing Curse at Lucius' demand. Whatever he had said had stopped them. Unfortunately, it put other thoughts in their mind.

He was hit by the Cruciatus just as Albus came into his line of sight. With a snap to his left wrist, he fell to the ground before purple robes, the curse trickling through him like lava and icicles wound together as one. He felt it through his spine, curling around his ribs, up his neck and finally through his limbs. It died away when he heard Albus bellow out a hex at his attacker.

A hand pulled him up to his feet and Harry found himself face first in Remus' chest as the werewolf tried steering him around to help protect the school. Several Death Eaters went down, suffering from the centaur's attacks now they had turned their backs on the 'lesser' enemies. They focused all their attention on Albus, completely forgetting about the residents of the Forest.

Despite the lingering pain he felt, Harry tried to find Lucius in the crowd. He knew the other man was too smart to fully ignore the centaurs, but he certainly wasn't going to do the same to the Order. Through it all, Harry tried to get it through his head that the older man had saved him. Somewhere along the way, Lucius had looked down on him with that look of acceptance in his eyes and had thrown Harry far away from the Avada Kedavra, despite the threat to his own life. That had been his future father-in-law.

Coming back to reality thanks to a nasty curse that sliced open his thigh, Harry threw back a jinx that threw the Death Eater well into the air and against a tree. He didn't watch the masked figure lose to gravity as he came back down to Earth, managing to hit every branch along the way. Instead, Harry turned to the next Death Eater, binding him to another and paralysing them both.

A female Death Eater got past them, heading straight for the castle. Several students had heard the commotion and were now sitting in their windows, watching the scene. Harry could see their silhouettes in the windows where they were still. He chased after the woman, ignoring the pain in his left leg, tripping her up with a quick spell that had her smashing her mask against the stone steps she had been running up. Hastily, he placed a paralysing spell on her, also, and levitated her to where the other subdued Death Eaters had been positioned. He didn't as much as take in her face as he did this. Harry found this helped. He knew he was sentencing each and every Death Eater they caught to the Dementors, and although it didn't bother him at first, the more he did it, the more lives he realised he was affecting. Scorpius' speech about murderers taking away more than just one life every time they killed had really gotten to him. He knew he was doing the exact same thing.

Just quickly, his heart sped up. Thinking about Scorpius made him do that, and that was partially why he was increasing his attempts to defeat the Death Eaters. They ruined Scorpius' life and he didn't want that to happen again. He wanted his son to be happy when he's born.

More than anything, though, he just wanted to see the boy again. Ever since Scorpius disappeared, he had thrown himself away from Draco. The similarities between the two were just far too close. He didn't know how he had survived in the future with Scorpius around. They were just too alike for it not to hurt.

But still, he missed Draco. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks. Honestly, to Harry, it felt like two years. He couldn't wait to see him again.

As he turned back to the battle, he was reminded of the scratch on his thigh, and then he realised it wasn't a little scratch. He was losing a lot of blood, in fact, and it was making him quite dizzy and lightheaded. It wasn't the lightheaded sensation he got after long kisses with Draco. That was bliss. This was queasy and not very promising. It also stung like all hell.

"Oh, shit," he grumbled before he toppled over, managing to land on something soft.

Blurrily, he tried to find where he was, but couldn't get his eyes out of the black robes he had landed in.

And goddamn, he hoped it was Severus who had caught him.

A quick spell was muttered and he felt an arm move somewhere. His mind tried to recognise the spell, and all he got was an illusion. It was supposed to create an illusion to those outside the barrier of the spell. He also struggled with the voice before he felt as if it had smacked him in the head.

It hadn't been Severus' black robes.

"Has Draco eaten anything from the Great Hall?"

Harry's head was barely on his neck, and Lucius was trying to interrogate him? It would have been a lot more effective if Harry had a few more drops of blood on him. Harry's legs gave way and he collapsed completely, pulling Lucius down with him. It was then that Lucius seemed to notice what was going on. He magically closed the wound and pulled out a vial of something from his robes.

"Drink this. It's a rejuvenation potion. It'll blend with your blood and create more for you."

Despite the fact that his future father-in-law had offered him a life-saving potion and had already saved him earlier, the warning bells set off in Harry's head, forcing him to refuse the potion Lucius Malfoy kept on his person.

"No," he muttered, trying to push his head out of Lucius' chest.

He heard the Imperius being cast and felt his head get even foggier. That was not a good sign. He was already too weak to fight against something Lucius could concoct. It was no secret that the Malfoy patriarch was legendary at these damn curses.

And then he was unconscious.

-

Harry jolted at the sound of his name. Someone was calling to him not too far away, but not close enough to be seen. He sat up sharply, hissing as the pain from the Cruciatus continued to pulse through his body. He hadn't been out of it for too long. However, his leg had been patched up (though, it was a dodgy job, Harry had to admit) and the bones in his wrist had been rightfully set.

Recognising the voice as Remus', Harry took in a deep breath to answer when he felt a hand slap over his mouth, muffling the noise he was going to make.

"No answering them," Lucius snapped, his mask now gone. They were deep within the Forest; somewhere Harry never expected to see a Malfoy. Granted, he had had his fair share of dreams of what he and Draco would do when they were alone and Draco was scared of the big bad creatures that lingered in the Forest, but Lucius was never included in those dreams.

Harry threw his head back but glared as Lucius put a silencing charm around them to prevent Harry from returning the hollers.

"It's important we speak, Potter," Lucius continued, his wand in his right hand and pointed towards Harry's chest. Strangely enough, he seemed pained to be in that situation.

"Then speak," Harry conceded.

"Has Draco eaten from the Great Hall?"

The question was incredibly odd for Harry. "I haven't seen Draco in two weeks."

"_Shit_."

The word was hissed out, confusing Harry. He wasn't used to seeing Lucius so raffled. The long blonde hair Draco and Scorpius inherited was out of its usual confinement, spilling over Lucius' shoulders, and the older man truly looked as if he was at a loss

"What's wrong with that? I thought you'd be happy I wasn't spending time with your son after what he told you." Harry took the haughty road, trying to get a reaction out of Lucius.

"Do you think I'd risk my life the way I did for you if I didn't want you to be with Draco? Narcissa and I want Scorpius as our grandchild, you simpleton." He paused and drew in a calming breath. At the same time, he looked around him, watching as someone got close enough to be seen.

"How come they can't see us?" Harry asked, glaring at Lucius.

"Only someone who is stronger than me can see past this illusion," Lucius claimed softly before he removed the tip of his wand from Harry's sternum. "Some of the Death Eaters within the school have in their possession a poison to kill Draco."

The words stole Harry's breath away.

"N-no!"

"If they are given the chance, they will add that potion to his food and he will die a painful death, Harry. I'm not sure if there's a reversal to it, but by the time Draco realises he's been poisoned it'll be too far into his bloodstream and would have destroyed some of his major organs beyond repair. It's a slow acting poison, designed to create as much pain as possible. Only one vial has been distributed."

"When was it given to them?" Harry asked, a cold chill going down his spine as something popped up in his mind.

"Fifteen days ago."

"No. Fuck no." Harry was shaking at the thought. "Scorpius...he disappeared fifteen days ago..."

"I heard about that and thought the same thing. It could very well be that Draco has already ingested this, which means that Scorpius wouldn't exist," Lucius breathed. He had been told about how his grandson had actually been there in flesh. He had questioned Severus about it, and the professor had confessed that Scorpius had come back from the future.

Harry's nails bit into his palms as he clenched his fists tightly. Fire burned at his stomach at the thought of Draco dying. It was the last thing he could ever want. And yet, it was a high possibility.

"I have with me a small drop of it, Harry. You have to get it to Draco so he can analyse it and create an antitoxin for it." With that, Lucius pulled the vial from one of his several pockets. It had the barest of drops in it and Harry seriously hoped it was enough for Draco to use. "If you succeed, Scorpius might even come back."

The thought of that had Harry's stomach flipping. There was a possibility of his son returning. He liked the idea of that. He liked it a hell of a lot.

"Draco has to live," Lucius claimed, his voice not as sure as Harry would have liked. It was so strange to hear a Malfoy so weak.

"I know he does." Harry moved to stand, but Lucius grabbed his wrist.

"You don't understand." Those silver eyes glowered at him. "Narcissa and I...we love our son. We can't imagine life without him..."

"You practically disowned him," Harry snapped. "You didn't talk to him because he chose to fight against Voldemort."

"And we've seen how wrong that was of us. We both want Scorpius in our life. We want Scorpius and our granddaughter and we've accepted you as our son. Draco told me something I never imagined I would hear from him and it made me realise just what was going on. You are a part of our family now. You and my son have two children together. Maybe more if Draco lives longer this time. My son isn't allowed to die. You saw your own son. Can you imagine what it'd be like for him to die...?"

Lucius' question bled out. Harry was glaring at him so strongly, he was certain the boy would have used the Cruciatus on him had he been able to.

"My son is dead," Harry breathed. "And it's killing me."

"And yet you haven't seen Draco in two weeks?"

The yelling around them got closer.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything...what I'm doing now is making sure Draco isn't killed by Voldemort in ten years."

"If Draco was suddenly gone from my life, I'd want nothing more than someone to be there for me," Lucius confessed. "Unlike my son, I'll never experience life with a lover. I'll never know what it's like to love my partner. He already knows that feeling and watched as his own son disappeared. It's as you said: Scorpius may as well be dead. You're busying yourself and all Draco can do is suffer. He probably needs you."

Harry bristled at Lucius' words. They made sense. He never expected that from him.

Regardless, those searching for Harry were getting closer and closer. Lucius stood and removed the silencing spell from around them. The illusion was also negated moments after he returned his mask to his face and had placed his hood over his long, platinum hair.

The moment he Apparated, Harry was found.

-

Draco didn't feel so well. He had been skipping out on meals and had managed to lose a few kilos off his weight. It made him wonder if this was how a parent truly felt when their child died. He didn't want to think of it that way, but the pain was so strong that it had to be.

At least Theo was there for him. When they ate, they got only the best food from the kitchens. Theo made sure to bring him his favourite dishes in his attempt to make the other boy happy. He was a good friend, so Draco had come to realise.

There was a knock on his door, followed by Theo confirming that it was him. Draco let down the safeguards, making it easy for Theo to walk through the door. He had made sure to strengthen the curses to prevent people from coming in. The last thing he needed was for the others to sneak up on him while he was sleeping. He didn't even want to think about what they'd do to him.

Whenever Theo delivered a meal, he always shrunk it down and placed it in his pockets so that the others wouldn't know about it. He was certain they had something planned regarding Draco's food. More than once he had seen Parkinson hanging around Draco's door, waiting for Theo to show up with the food. She always had a glass vial of something in her hands. He had even seen her play around with the thing, asserting her control in the common room. Whenever that thing came out of her pocket, everyone listened to what she was saying. It was like her direct link to controlling everyone else and the contents of the potion inside it worried Theo.

Of course, he hadn't said a thing to Draco. The other teen had far too much on his mind to worry about that sort of stuff. So Theo made sure everything was fine and that nothing had been tainted. He had found that if he paid one of the house elves, they didn't have a problem with keeping their actions a secret or making sure no one else touched the food. Although the other house elves didn't agree with that lone one, having that little bit of help was greatly appreciated, so Theo gave the desired money. Luckily, the thing didn't know the difference in meaning between a knut and a galleon.

So, with his hands stuffed in his pockets to make sure no one could tamper with the food in there, Theo would be Draco's only confidante.

"Thanks," Draco muttered, looking at the food before him. His stomach reeled at that thought of eating, but at the same time, it grumbled with the need to fill it. He hated it when he was that hungry.

"Are you sure Scorpius is Potter's child?" Theo asked, completely out of the blue and casual as he bit into a sandwich. "There's always the possibility of him being my son."

"He told me, Theo. And I've seen my journal. It's all lovey-dovey over Harry. And I'm in love with him now..."

"How can you be so sure? Scorpius could have fabricated all of that."

Draco's grey eyes focused on Theo. "Do you really want to be Scorpius' papa?"

The words caused an awkward silence between them for a few minutes, where neither would eat nor speak.

"I wouldn't mind." There was a faint shrug of his shoulders.

"Theo..."

"You made it make so much sense, Draco. It sounded like it was meant to be between us," Theo interrupted, intent on making his point clear. "He has green eyes..."

"They're the same shade of Harry's, Theo. He and Harry are of the same blood. It's overly obvious and we're far too stupid to figure it out this late. He's a Potter. Everything about him screams out that he's a Potter. He's not your son..."

The words were cut off short as Theo rushed forward, pressing his lips to Draco's.

And instantly, Draco pulled away, feeling the harsh burning sensation along with a wave of illness at the thought of kissing someone who wasn't Harry.

"You made it sound perfect, Draco. It was like you were promising me this life with Scorpius and Lilith as our children."

"Her name is Lily," Draco objected. "My baby girl with Harry will be called Lily."

"She's Lilith Nott."

Theodore's voice was so angry that Draco was almost worried. "Theo, Scorpius told me these things. I know who I do and do not marry..."

Theo frowned, shaking his head. "You were promising me a family so soon after I lost my father-he was all I had left, but then you were there and you had Scorpius and you made it sound like we were going to be together with our children. You can't go back on that now."

"I love Harry." The three words froze Theo in his place. "I didn't intend to lead you on like that, Theo. I was just trying to find out who Scorpius' papa is. It did fit when I thought of you, but I didn't fall in love with you. And then I figured it out and Scorpius confirmed it. Harry Potter is my future husband and we've both accepted it. And yet..." Draco's eyes began to tear. "And yet Scorpius is gone. There was nothing we could do to prevent him from leaving us."

"And I feel as if I've lost my son," Theo told him, his voice raw. "I feel just like you do. I thought of him as my own child, Draco."

"Thinking of him as your child and _feeling_ it are two different things. Harry felt what I felt whenever we looked at him. It's not the same between you and me."

"Why? Because you didn't fall in love with me? It can happen."

Draco shook his head. "This isn't up for discussion. Harry is my future husband and the children we know to be mine are his. He even called Harry 'Papa' on more than one occasion, but we were too stupid to realise what was going on."

"Was this before or after you started screwing around with my mind?"

The blonde inclined his head. "Before."

And with that, Theo stood, heading for the door. "I was the only one who stuck with you after you turned down your father and the Dark Lord. How could you have used me like that? I would have thought you had a little more in you."

"Theo, stop being so dramatic," Draco chided.

"Dramatic? You've taken away the one thing I was looking forward to!"

"I haven't taken that away from you. You're only seventeen, for Merlin's sake. Just because you're not having children with me doesn't mean you can't love the children you'll have when you're ready."

They both jumped when someone crashed into their doorway, yelling.

"Theo!" It was a fourth-year boy. "The Death Eaters attacked. Dumbledore went down and stopped it all, but they ambushed Potter...I heard they got him."

Straight away, Draco felt his heart stop. His lungs ceased to take in any air, despite how much he wanted to breathe.

"Julius snuck out and heard them all calling out for him. They couldn't find him anywhere," the boy continued. "He could hear Professor Snape and Hagrid calling out...Dumbledore reckons he was taken into the forest, but McGonagall thinks he was taken to the Dark Lord."

"That's enough, Crispin," Theo sighed, taking pity on Draco. It was then that the child noticed him. He slapped a hand over his mouth, realising what he had just done.

It was well known now all over the school about Scorpius. They had all heard the two of them call Scorpius their son. It didn't take a genius to know that he had come back from the future for some reason or another. They also knew that Harry had been avoiding Draco.

The younger Slytherin backed out of the room.

"He's my spy amongst the others," Theo told Draco once the door was closed behind Crispin. "He came up to me in private and told me that he was glad I hadn't followed the Dark Lord. His parents are on the fence with it all. They disagree with the Dark Lord, but would follow him just to keep Crispin and his brother safe. He and Julius are childhood friends. Not too far off from the Weasley twins, I reckon. They can never keep their noses out of trouble and seem to know about everything happening in the school." He eyed Draco, who was much paler than usual. "You can breathe again. I highly doubt Dumbledore would have let Potter disappear with the Death Eaters. They probably dragged him out into the Forest only to be defeated by him anyway."

Draco shakily nodded his head, but glared at Crispin as he opened the door again. "They found him! He was in the Forest, just as Dumbledore thought. He had been taken away by one of the Death Eaters...Julius can't find out why. He's not to be out there, of course, so he can't exactly go up to one of the professors and ask them what's going on. None of the other students are down there, either."

"How is Potter?" Theo asked, noticing how Draco was breathing again.

"He's fine. A slight cut on his thigh and a bit dizzy from blood loss, but he's fine. He was whisked off to Dumbledore's office as quickly as he could so he could explain everything. Julius said he heard something about the Slytherin common rooms, though. He thinks Professor Snape's heading down here to check up on it...I don't know what Potter was talking about, though. Even Julius couldn't hear it properly and he was using one of those Weasley inventions. Those two are geniuses." He stopped at the look Theo was giving him. "Right...anyway, other than a small gash, he's fine. I'm sure he's still good for baby-making."

"That's all, thanks, Crispin."

"There's more," Crispin objected, this time stepping through the doorway and closing the door behind him. He put a few spells on the room to make sure no one could hear them or interfere. "You asked me to look into that potion Parkinson's always carrying around. According to Bulstrode, it's a poison someone left on her desk for Draco. They reckon a proper Death Eater snuck in and placed it during breakfast...the day of the incident in the Great Hall..." He wisely chose his words. "When we all got back from it, it was by Lucille McNair's bed."

"Lucille McNair...?"

"We all know her as Lucille Shanks, but it turns out she's Walden McNair's lovechild. We all know he's a Death Eater, so her mother makes her use the last name Shanks instead to prevent the whole 'guilty by association' thing the Ministry has going on. Quite suspicious placing, don't you think? I mean, she mightn't be a fully fledged Death Eater just yet, but she's well on her way in following her old man's footsteps..."

"I haven't taken it yet, have I?" Draco asked softly, a sudden thought hitting his head.

"Not to my knowledge. Whenever she whips it out, it's still as full as it had been before. I think that's because you haven't eaten with us since it was found." Crispin shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe that's why Scorpius disappeared. I'm going to die because of it..."

"You wouldn't know if you've had any. Not yet. It's designed to be a slow and painful death, according to the note found with the potion. No one knows what it's called and Snape hasn't been told of it just yet." He paused, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small slip of parchment. Quickly, his brown eyes read over it. "Julius is on his way back. They managed to capture eleven Death Eaters in all. They got Parkinson's dad, too. He doesn't know how many they got before that, though. It seems as if Potter was on a raid before this attack started. He's really knocking back the Dark Lord's plans, isn't he? There can't be that many left."

"Have you checked the common room?" Theo asked dryly. "That place is just drowning in Death Eater wannabes."

"Suppose. Anyway, Potter's obliterated the Inner Circle. There are only a few surviving members. All the rest have been sentenced to the Kiss. The Carrows, Lestrange, Snape and Malfoy are the only big-name survivors and the Dark Lord only trusts one of them."

"Okay, thanks for that," Theo sighed, looking at Draco. "Make sure you don't eat anything from the Great Hall until we find out what's going on. I'll keep bringing you food from the kitchens just to make sure."

"But that could explain everything. If I'm dead, Scorpius can't be born. And if he isn't born, then he can't be in the past. That's why my baby boy's missing. I'm going to die..." Draco breathed.

"We'll find out what potion is it and we'll come up with a reversal for it, okay?" Theo gathered the dishes from their meal. "Go back to sleep. We can talk more in the morning."

-

For the second time that night, Draco was rudely awoken by someone at his door. Only, this time, they had broken through whichever safeguards he had put into place. He sat up sharply, his hand grabbing for his wand, but found no one in his doorway. The door closed quietly, blacking out the light from the hallway before Harry appeared, removing the Invisibility Cloak from his shoulders.

Draco instantly got out of bed, slipping out from under the blankets, to rush to Harry's side. Before Harry had the Cloak off his body properly, Draco was there; his arms wound around his body in the tightest embrace Harry had ever been in.

-

**There we go!! Another chapter done...and it's a longer chapter, too!! Hope you all enjoyed it and will review me...**

**We gots a lemon next week!!**

**Oh, by the way...check out my profile and kindly vote for the next story for me to write...please...???**


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Freya

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**_WARNING_: this chapter has a graphic lemon scene, involving two of our yummy boys. If you no likey...well, I dunno...XD**

**Khiela: Of course I'm promising you a happy ending. It doesn't get much happier than the ending I'm plotting out. **

**Saki-18: Wow...Word recognises your name as a word...I must have responded to you several times...anywho...I thought I'd have Lucius use Harry's name to show his acceptance of him. He can't very well call his son-in-law by his last name...**

**Nymphy Fate: I no means to make you cry...is okay...**

**-**

**Chapter Seventeen: Freya, Norse Goddess of Love, Fertility and Sexual Desire**

**-**

Harry sought out Draco's lips, catching them swiftly in their first kiss in weeks. Both melted into it, happy to finally be that close to each other. There was something so soothing in sharing the same air with your loved one after so long without.

They broke away panting, but Harry pressed their foreheads together, overly joyous to be with his Draco again. He lovingly stroked at Draco's hair, running his fingers through the soft silk of it.

"Don't you dare disappear for two weeks ever again, Harry Potter," Draco hissed between his teeth, his hands playing with the front of Harry's robes.

"I won't. I promise."

Draco stepped back, out of Harry's arms before he led him to the bed. The two of them sat up against the head, their legs outstretched and their shoulders touching as they put the blankets over their legs.

"So where have you been all this time?" Draco asked, his hand grabbing for Harry's.

"Fighting off the bad guys. Where'd you think I was?"

"For all I knew, you were enjoying some lover in some exotic location while I cried in bed, awaiting your return." Draco's fingers entwined with Harry's and he brought them up to kiss the brunette's knuckles. "Which better not have been the case."

"It certainly wasn't." Harry nuzzled into Draco's hair and temple, loving the smell of his future husband. "I was thinking, by the way, are we boyfriends?" His heart nearly exploded at Draco's smile.

"We better be."

"Good."

Draco curled into Harry, who wrapped his arm around Draco's shoulder, holding him close. "I want Scorp back."

"Me too...you haven't eaten anything from the Great Hall, have you?"

It caused Draco to jolt away from his newly-labelled boyfriend. He sat propped up on his knees, wide eyed, looking at Harry. "How do you know about that?"

"Your father approached me tonight...he kidnapped me, actually, but gave me this to give to you." Harry reached into the pocket of his jeans and brought out the small vial. "He managed to get a drop of it. You should be able to analyse it and find a cure for it with this, right?"

Draco grabbed the vial and held it up, trying to catch it with the non-existent light. Harry offered help, lighting the tip of his wand with the ever useful 'lumos' spell.

"Better?"

"Yes." The blonde continued to look at the drop and let out a sigh. "It should be enough for me to break it down and go backwards from there." Very carefully, Draco placed it on the bedside table before curling up in the bed, his head on Harry's right thigh. "Do you think Scorp disappeared because I've already had some of it?"

"I hope that's not the case."

"I probably would have taken it sooner or later if I didn't know. So...so if the food I've been eating has been clean, Scorpius should come back, right?"

"That would be the logical thing."

Harry had to take in a deep breath. Having Draco's head in his lap wasn't exactly the most innocent of places and his hormones were well aware of that fact. Actually, they were overly aware of that. He tried his hardest not to shift and make Draco aware of it, also. He could have done with a nice, cold shower at that moment.

And then there was that hand on his lower thigh. It was stroking just above his knee. Sure, it was meant to be a comforting gesture, but Harry wasn't too sure as to what Draco was trying to comfort. He knew the blonde was used to getting sex whenever he wanted it and that he had gone months without it, but he wasn't too sure if Draco even knew what he was stirring.

"I've missed you so much. I just wanna...I'm never letting you go, Harry. You're staying here with me until we're ready to find Scorp's surrogate mother."

The tiniest of laughs tore free from Harry's throat, though it was pained. He wouldn't have minded staying in bed with Draco until that time, either. Granted, there would have been a lot less clothes and talking.

However, the talking was a must. If Harry was to keep himself from jumping his boyfriend, the conversation had to continue. "Do you think he went back to his own time? I hope he didn't. I hope he never has to see that hell ever again. It's just not good for him."

"I don't know," Draco said thoughtfully. "I mean, there are so many wizarding theories out there about each timeline being a separate thing. Just because he changes the past here doesn't mean he'll change his own past or future. It could be he changes the future for us, but not himself."

"That's also a Muggle theory."

"That's interesting. And yet, neither has been able to prove it?"

"Well, time travel isn't possible in the Muggle world. So they can't prove it."

"We weren't able to prove anything, either. Scorpius is the only person alive who could know the answer. Our time travel is too small to be accurate. The difference in a few hours isn't much to change the world."

Harry ran his hand through Draco's hair again. "We have to wait ten years for him to be back in our lives again if he's really gone back to his time. Do you think the potion wore off?"

"That was one of the options I was considering. I went over the properties of it and couldn't find anything. I'm still not skilled enough yet to be able to understand why it works. Sure, I've got the recipe, but I don't have a clue why or how I thought up those things. It's strange to know that I'm not smart enough to solve a problem I've already solved."

"Gotta love those paradoxes." Draco hummed his response. "How'd you find out about the poison?"

"Slytherin spies. Theo has his own little band of them. He's enlisted the help of a fourth-year. Insane little bugger, I swear it. The little shit spied on Parkinson and found out through Bulstrode that she was flashing around something in a vial and just what it was. Whichever Death Eater planted it left a note telling them to use it against me. It'll cause me to have a long and painful death."

"That's what your father told me...you know what else he said? He told me that he and your mother have accepted me as their son; that I'm part of their family now."

Grey eyes stared up at him in shock. "Are you for real? Father actually said that?"

"Yeah, he did. He also said that he and Narcissa really want Scorpius and Lily as their grandchildren."

"But you're Harry Potter. A Gryffindor with a Muggleborn mother..."

"I'm having a hard time accepting it as well. I've never seen him so frazzled though. I think he's changing sides because of you."

"Bullshit. He practically disowned me..."

"That's what I said. But he's realising that what he did was wrong."

"_Very_ wrong."

"Yes, wrong, but he's willing to go against Voldemort for you. That's a good sign. Hell, he even saved me twice tonight. I would have gotten an Avada Kedavra to my back if he hadn't pushed me away. And then I was bleeding everywhere...and he used the bloody Imperius on me. How dare he do that?"

Whilst he was woozy from blood loss earlier, Harry was starting to recall what had happened.

"What did he make you do?"

"Drink a potion that replenished the blood I had lost..."

"How dare he?" Draco taunted, a beautiful grin on his lips as he continued to look up at Harry's face.

Harry scoffed. "He used an Unforgivable on me. That's just not appropriate."

"He saved you. That's good enough for me." His hand continued its stroking. "Sorry, which thigh was it that got cut open?"

"Left."

"Oh."

"Pomfrey patched it up better than what your father did."

"Father tried healing you? Good luck with that." There was a chuckle in his voice as if he knew his father's talents were that limited. "He might be a master at the Dark Arts, but he doesn't have a clue on how to properly heal a wound. That's why he carries those potions everywhere. That way, he can bugger up the spell to close the cut so that it isn't pouring out anymore and can literally drink his worries away."

Harry loved Draco's laugh.

"So where were you getting all that clean food from? I'm guessing the reason you're not freaking out right now is because you haven't been eating in the Great Hall."

"Theo would get me the food from the kitchens directly. Poor bloke probably did it because he wants Scorpius as his kid. We got into an argument about it before. Apparently I led him on with the whole family thing too soon after he lost his last family member. Not a very happy Theodore."

Just watching those lips move hurt. He wanted the blonde so badly.

"He even kissed me."

And that brought Harry crashing back down to reality.

"He _what_?"

"He's convinced he's actually Scorp's papa and that we get married and all that..."

"And he kissed you?"

"Yeah, he kissed me. He was trying to convince me..."

"I'm gonna kill him." Harry seriously had to take deep breaths to stop himself from exploding with anger. Someone else had kissed his Draco. He could understand Blaise. They were exes. And that was long before they really started anything. Granted, he had gotten just as nastily jealous that time, too...

Draco snorted. "You missed out on the real fun. You and Scorpius were gone, which meant I was easy pickings in potions class, wasn't I?"

"Oh Merlin."

"Yeah. I ended up with a potion poured down my back and that burnt away half of the skin there..."

Draco was forced into stopped. Harry had wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and had pulled him up to his chest so that Draco's back was facing him. With a simple motion that had Draco wondering just what Harry had gotten up to, Draco's nightshirt was whipped off him, leaving him topless in the dark room. Harry lit the tip of his wand again as he looked at the skin before him.

Most of his back was fully healed, but Harry found the parts that weren't. "Holy shit, Draco. I'm so sorry. I should have been there...I could have stopped this." He bent forward, kissing around the burns, making sure not to touch the sensitive areas. At the same time, his hands held Draco's hips, keeping him still.

Draco couldn't help but whimper Harry's name as he was dragged closer and the lips trailed up his neck, around to his jaw. Their lips brushed briefly until Harry returned to the burnt skin, worshiping it in his apology for not being there to stop it. Harry's hands caused Draco's entire body to tingle as he moved them up and down Draco's chest as he pulled the blonde's body closer to him.

"Why didn't Pomfrey fix all of this?" Harry finally asked, resting his chin on Draco' shoulder, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist. Draco's body was pressed flush against Harry's clothed skin (which angered the blonde), but his rear could easily feel Harry's arousal.

"I didn't want to stay in the one place for too long," Draco admitted, though his mind was on other things. "Hey." His voice was soft as he tilted his head back onto Harry's shoulder.

"Hmmm?"

"I love you."

He felt the arms tighten around his waist. "I love you too."

And it just felt so damn right. Being together was where they belonged.

"I'm happy we have our babies together. I can't imagine being with anyone else. Even being touched by someone who isn't you makes me feel like I'm about to vomit everywhere. It's disgusting."

It was spoken so strongly that it made Harry's stomach freeze. "Who touched you?"

"He was expelled."

"What the hell did he do?"

Draco took in a deep breath. Harry's reaction was not going to be fun. "He put his hands down the back of my pants..." He felt Harry grinding his teeth on his shoulder. "He was expelled. And there was no damage...I just felt a little ill. He was stupid for doing it in front of Severus, anyway."

"What the hell could possess anyone to do something like that?"

"He claims he didn't do it. It's like he was under the Imperius. I wouldn't put it past Parkinson in all honesty. The other guy said the same thing..."

"_Other guy_?"

"The one with the potion. He was expelled as well. Dumbledore took one look at my back and decided that one." Nimble fingers picked at the blankets, finding a piece of fluff. "I wonder if Father knew about it."

"He didn't say anything." Harry buried his head on Draco's neck, covering the fine skin with kisses. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I didn't even think that something like this would happen to you. I'm so stupid. I should have known or thought about it."

"It's okay, Harry. You were busy saving lives and all that knight in shining armour stuff. At least you came back to me. I can sit here and say that the great Harry Potter came to my bed after slaying the evil guys."

Harry laughed, kissing Draco's cheek. "Well, now that you know the true nature behind this visit, are you okay to leave your bed and me alone for a while?"

Perfect teeth nipped at Harry's ear playfully. "Speaking of which, how the hell did you get down here?"

"Snape gave me the password without a question. I guess he misses Scorpius as well."

"Ah. And how did you know which door was mine? Or did you open each one up until you found the paranoid one in bed?"

Holding Draco tighter, Harry blew air into the blonde's ear before continuing. "I tried all the doors and yours was the one I couldn't open with my hand alone. You have some nice hexes on that, by the way."

"Not like you were affected by any of them," Draco scoffed. "I know for sure that I had the impotency hex on it." With that, he wiggled his backside into Harry's erection just to prove his point.

"What is with you and that hex? One of these days, it's gonna backfire and you're not going to be very happy about that."

"I think it's best to leave your enemies with a reason never to try again."

"Yeah, well I'm sure you wouldn't have been too happy if it had worked on me."

"I thought my bed was getting that."

Harry chuckled, his breath warm on Draco's neck. "We should do this more often."

"We haven't done anything yet," Draco argued, his hand running up Harry's thigh. His left hand grazed the spot where Harry's pants had been sliced in the attack, followed by the dried blood he had bled. "You seriously came here straight after the battle, didn't you? Did you at least clean off the blood from your skin?"

"Pomfrey did all that. I just really wanted to see you. I didn't really have any time to stop by the Tower, shower and get changed."

Draco leant his head back again, this time to suckle the soft skin under Harry's ear. He felt Harry's body twitch at the movement and couldn't help but smile. When he was satisfied with the mark he left, he seated himself back properly.

"So, when am I getting my shirt back?"

"Not tonight."

With that smile that Harry loved so much, Draco chuckled, his fingers entwining with Harry's. "I really like that answer."

Just for the sake of it, he pushed those hands down into his lap, letting Harry know what was happening to his body. He heard Harry moan, his breath coming out against his neck as Harry gathered him up, pressing his hips close as he moved his hands over Draco's length.

Draco shivered at the feel of the material moving up and down his skin, guided by Harry's hands. He had waited for this for far too long.

"You know, I was quite certain you were the type to wear less to bed," Harry smirked against Draco's back. "I was hoping that, anyway."

Letting out a breathy laugh, Draco leant back so that Harry had to put his head on his shoulder to accommodate him. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Harry turned his head, stealing Draco's lips again. "Then be sure to be naked the next time I sneak into your room in the middle of the night." He left his right hand to continue stroking Draco and allowed his left hand the freedom of exploring Draco's chest. His fingertips burned pleasantly against ivory skin, trailing over the fine hairs that dusted Draco's upper body until coming to tease a nipple.

Draco gasped, his hips now moving in time to Harry's hand as his own hands curled in the bed covers. Harry's eyes took in every little detail. Draco's knees were rubbing together, his teeth had come down to bite on his lip, his eyes were closed and his chest was heaving. The skin on his neck was flushed, begging for Harry's attention. He obeyed.

The moment Harry started on Draco's neck, Draco's right hand flew up, holding the mouth close to his body. His breath came out as a moan as Harry nibbled and licked his way around Draco's skin. He breathed Harry's name out, loving the way the other teen made him feel. Harry pulled back, his kisses now focusing on Draco's back again. He was so gentle with the burnt skin, causing Draco to tingle all over.

Before long, Draco turned around in Harry's arms, slipping out from under his hand to face the brunette. Grinning wickedly, Draco slipping forward, wrapping his arms around Harry's shoulders as he kissed that delicious mouth, gaining some form of dominance over his soon-to-be lover. And Harry let Draco be dominant in the kiss, sighing as the blonde sat in his lap. Either one of them moaned at the friction that caused.

Draco lowered his hands to untuck Harry's shirt from his jeans, his hands burning as they travelled up Harry's sides to raise the shirt up Harry's midriff. They broke off the kiss and Harry took his own hands from Draco's hips to allow Draco to remove the cloth from his body. As Draco bent to kiss the newly available skin, Harry's hands moved down Draco's bare back, heading straight for the teen's rear. He could feel Draco reaching down again, this time grabbing the wand from Harry's back pocket and sliding it under one of the pillows.

"Only you could do something that practical when we're doing this..." Harry muttered, kissing Draco quickly before the blonde took away his glasses as well. They were put on the bed side table before Draco leant back, admiring what was before him. Harry was so much darker than he was, a golden tan rather than the paleness of Draco's skin.

"I cannot wait to get you naked," Draco whispered, sitting up flush against Harry's chest again. Harry chuckled, his arms coming around Draco's waist, locking him into place. Cheekily, Draco pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Harry's nose before he slipped his hand down their fronts to undo Harry's belt. The belt was quickly pulled away from Harry's waistline and tossed away from the bed. Harry's hands massaged Draco's thighs lovingly as Draco flicked open the button on Harry's jeans and the fly was unzipped.

"You're far too good at undressing people."

He heard Draco snicker in his ear before he was forced onto his back. Within seconds, Draco had stripped him of both his jeans and his cotton boxers. Lastly, he pulled Harry's socks off. The articles were thrown to the side carelessly as Draco took in the sight before him. Harry flushed hotly when he saw Draco's eyes flicker over his body, watching as those grey eyes caught in the light of the room.

Harry felt like whimpering when Draco's hands caught his thighs in his hands, just above Harry's knees, and began to meander upwards. They were oh-so soft and teasing as Draco ran his hands up and down the flesh, dipping down to his knees and reaching up to his pelvis. It was a heaven Harry hadn't yet explored, and the blonde was only touching his legs with his hands.

And then his pair of full lips found the path his left hand had made while Draco's hands separated Harry's legs. Delicately, Draco kissed and nipped at Harry's right thigh, turning his head inward so that he could leave Harry with a tender mark on the inside of his leg. Harry's breath came out laboured, hissing between his teeth and his hands clenched in the bed sheets. Draco's oral talent moved upwards, heading where Harry wanted it the most and his hands followed. Now playing with Harry's abdomen, Draco dipped his head low, instantly moving so that he could take Harry's sacs into his mouth.

Now this was new. Harry felt his entire spine curl at the sensation, mewling when Draco did something amazing with his tongue.

Draco sat back up, moving up Harry's body. He mouthed the hard shaft pressed against Harry's stomach, licking the tip of it, before kissing his way over Harry's chest. The brunette had more body hair than he did, which he didn't mind at all. He was overly impressed with his future-husband's body, elated with its beauty. He crawled over Harry's body, meeting his lips in a long and luxurious kiss.

Harry turned them over, kneeling over Draco, his hands instantly going for Draco's sweatpants. He kissed and nipped just as Draco had, trailing his way down Draco's slight line of hair to the waistband of his pants. Grabbing the material just under Draco's knees, Harry dragged them down, exposing inch after inch of Draco's perfect skin. He, too, sat back to enjoy the sight of his future-husband, loving looking at the flushed naked body under him.

"Dear God," Harry breathed, his manhood twitching with anticipation. The praise was lost to Draco; he was too aroused to care about what Harry was saying.

Harry ducked his head down, flickering his tongue over Draco's length the same way the blonde had done to him. However, he lowered his head for more. Surprising Draco, he took the head into his mouth, suckling as hard as he possibly could. Draco's entire body curled upwards and his breath struggled with a harsh gasp. Harry slipped lower, his hands clenching at Draco's hips as the blonde dug his nails into Harry's shoulders.

It was Harry's first time doing something like that, so when he thought Draco was worked up enough, he pulled away and settled his body over his blonde lover. It was all too tempting to return to what he was doing when Draco whimpered, wanting more of Harry's mouth. Instead, Harry wrapped his hand around the shaft, kissing Draco soundly.

When he pulled away, he was thankful Draco was a clever Slytherin. His face must have screamed that he didn't have a clue what to do, since Draco reached under the pillow to grab his wand. With a simple wave and a muttered charm, Harry's hand was covered in a warm gel, which sparked Harry's brief knowledge of what the next move was.

He was careful in his preparation, only knowing he was doing it right when Draco moaned and bucked his hips up to meet his hand. He loved the way the Slytherin looked. Even though his image was blurred (thanks to the fact Harry was practically blind without his glasses), Harry could see the way Draco squirmed, the way he bit on his lip when things felt good, the blush on his face and his eyes closed tightly in pleasure.

"Is it right?" Harry asked softly, pressing a kiss to Draco's belly button.

"Y-yeah...I'm ready, Harry," Draco responded, his breath hitching slightly as Harry's fingers brushed his sweet spot.

Harry had never been more thankful for those words in his life. He was achingly hard just from watching Draco's reactions. Draco recast the spell, this time on his own hand, and applied it. He grinned at Harry's breathy moan and his short thrusts into his hand. Then he settled back, his knees bent and his feet flat against the sheets.

The good burn came back. Harry's hands found Draco's hips and their pelvises met properly for the first time. Harry lowered his body onto Draco's, kissing him quickly, before he focused on easing his self into Draco's welcoming body.

Draco relaxed, feeling a penetration he hadn't felt in months. His body easily adjusted around Harry's, who was burning inside him. Harry's breath was hot on his collar bone, adding to the fire that was Draco's body.

"How is it?" Draco whispered into Harry's ear, pulling him down onto him. His arms wrapped around Harry's shoulders as they fit together like they were meant to be.

"Holy shit." And that was the only explanation Draco got. Harry thrust up, taking Draco by surprise, before the blonde's arms clamped down around him.

"Gi-give me some time to adjust," he requested. "It's been a really long time since I've done this..."

"Okay."

While Draco got accustomed to the old sensation, Harry was focusing the best he could. He was moments away from finding his bliss and he hadn't even started moving. Draco was much tighter than he thought he would be and it was driving him insane. It wasn't long until Draco was moving under him, raising his hips to meet him.

With a strangled moan, Harry responded thankfully, slipping out a little before pushing back in. Not too long after Harry established their rhythm, Draco was gasping every time Harry thrust up. His lover mightn't have been the most experienced lover in the world, but he knew how to hit the right spot over and over again. One leg went around Harry's hips and Harry's arms moved around Draco's waist, holding him as tight as he could.

Harry increased the speed and the strength of their rhythm, causing Draco's gasps to become a single croon, which he tried to silence in the crook of Harry's neck. In turn, Harry's grunts were stifled by Draco's neck.

They were both sweaty and groaning and moving together, unable to think coherently, with lights exploding behind their closed eyelids.

The pace quickly became brutal. Harry was striving for their ultimate bliss, giving Draco his entire being. The more he moved, the closer he and Draco were.

And close they were.

Draco's other leg came up around Harry's body, and he used them to meet Harry's every thrust. His voice was no longer muffled. Head back, Draco's mouth was open and he was getting louder and louder. Harry bit down on the exposed skin, marking Draco over and over again as he moved deeper and deeper inside him, hitting him where he loved it the most, getting faster and harder and deeper...

Draco's nails bit into Harry's skin as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and white exploded behind his eyes. He let out a wailing keen and Harry could feel jets of hot liquid painting his torso.

At the same time, the muscles that held Harry in the most intimate of embraces tightened around him, causing Harry's own world to lose colour and to spin out of control.

He collapsed onto his boyfriend, panting and in awe over how good that had just felt. Harry couldn't find any other thoughts. The need to cuddle his lover and to sleep overrode any other need. And from the way Draco held him tightly, it was obvious the other teen had only those thoughts as well.

-

The door opened slowly at first, until the handle was gripped from the other side of the door and yanked open.

"You are _never_ allowed out of this castle to fight alongside Potter _ever again_," Severus declared, pulling his lover into his arms with one swift motion.

"It was okay. None of us got hurt, Severus," Remus consolidated him, knowing it killed the potion master to be so far away from the battle when Remus was there. He was so worried that someone would attack him and he wouldn't be there to protect him. "And I am a skilled fighter, you know. I'm perfectly capable of fighting off an attack like that. You don't have to get so worried..."

"We're getting married."

The words were boldly stated into Remus' hair since Severus hadn't yet relinquished his hold on the werewolf. Remus fell silent. There wasn't very much you could say to that from the top of your head.

"On the next Hogsmeade weekend," Severus continued. "We can get a minister to come here..."

"We can't on a Hogsmeade weekend," Remus objected. "We need to protect the children."

"Our wedding comes before their safety."

"You're acting like a child. I-I never even agreed to this. I don't recall talking about it or you proposing...I wouldn't mind us being engaged before we start thinking about when and where the wedding will take place." Remus stepped back from the taller man and headed towards the bathroom. He was in serious need of a shower.

"I don't need to propose to you. We both know you'll agree anyway," Severus ventured, stepping over the clothes Remus was stripping out of and dumping on the floor.

"How can you be so sure on that?" Remus was standing in front of the glass shower door, opening it. He was in little more than a pair of jeans, which didn't do much for Severus' concentration. No matter how often he saw his lover naked, he could never get enough. More than once, Remus had asked him if he was using some potion no one was supposed to know about. Naturally, that just made Severus take him another two times that night, if only to show off that he was all natural.

Remus rolled his eyes as he saw that glint in Severus' eyes. "Are you sure you're a man of your age? You're not unlike a teenage boy. It's sex all the time with you. That didn't sound right; I know it's also love and everything else that's warm and fuzzy, but doesn't it ever stay down with you? I'm exhausted from a battle, so you can tell the raging teenager in your pants to lay low tonight."

Severus smirked, stepping up to his lover and pulling him into his arms again. "I love you. And I know of our future together. That's how I know you'll marry me." He kissed Remus' jaw tenderly, though his right hand worked on Remus' fly.

"Don't start thinking you're joining me in here," Remus grumbled, seeking out Severus' lips.

"What if I propose to you?"

"A proposal's useless since you know I'm gonna marry you anyway."

Severus pulled away with a frown. "You're not allowed to use my own logic to stop me from having sex with you."

The werewolf just grinned before stepping out of his clothes. When he had the shower running, he made sure to magically seal the door behind him (which he had also blackened out so Severus couldn't see him), despite the fact that he knew the potions master would be waiting for him in bed.

He had to smile. His life was truly wonderful.

-

_I can remember walking down the stairs to the kitchen. There had been a lot of screaming done by my papa the night before. He had been screaming and crying and Uncle Remus kept giving him cuddles, I didn't know what was wrong. I thought maybe he was still upset after the fight he and Daddy had had the night before. But he was still crying when I found him in the kitchen._

_His eyes were so red and puffy and he kept sniffling. Papa never cried. _Never_. _

_Both Uncle Remus and Uncle Sev were there this morning. Papa didn't even look at me when I entered the kitchen. It was like he didn't want to see me-like he didn't want to acknowledge my existence, even. And that scared me. _

_It was Uncle Sev who saw me first. He came over to me and hoisted me up into his arms. Being the age that I was, this occasionally happened whenever the adults wanted to give me hugs. It was very rare that Uncle Severus would do it, though. If I wanted to hug him, I was expected to climb onto whatever furniture was there, rather than make him bend down to hold me. But this time, he had no problem with it. _

_He sat me up on the kitchen table, where Papa was sitting, and pretty much forced me into Papa's arms. The moment Papa touched me, he burst out into tears again. _

_I held his head to my chest, the same way he and Daddy had done to me whenever I cried, and did my best to make him stop. It just made him cry harder, I think. _

"_When's Daddy coming home?" I finally asked, looking up at the married couple to my left. Uncle Remus ran his hand over Papa's back soothingly, before he kissed my forehead. _

"_Your dad isn't coming back, Scorpius," he told me softly. _

"_Is that what divorce means?"_

_That made Papa shudder and cry even harder._

"_No. Your daddy was caught by the bad guy."_

"_Like Aunt Ginny was? Papa got her back. He should be able to get Daddy back as well..."_

"_Draco's dead, Scorpius," Uncle Severus told me. Uncle Remus glared at him, but I didn't know why. I was only five. I didn't understand that word. Dead. Death. None of it made sense._

"_You mean like the rose bushes? Papa said that they were dead, but he could plant some new ones...they came back...does he have to plant Daddy again?"_

_Papa was crying so hard I could feel the wetness against my chest, through my shirt._

"_He's not coming back like the flowers did. He can't come back. When the bad guy caught your dad, he hurt him," Uncle Remus explained._

_And that made me start to cry. I never wanted my parents to be in any sort of pain._

"_We can take him to a doctor..."_

"_No we can't. Doctors can't make him better. We can't bring him back, Scorpius. He's gone."_

"_...I'm never gonna see my daddy again?"_

_My papa whispered to me that he was sorry, but I couldn't hear him. I was already crying too loudly to hear anything._

-

**Another chapter done...dear Merlin...it took me forever to write that damned lemon...**

**Review me please??**


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Hathor

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Ragnarok45: Basically, what I'm doing with Scorpius' POV is to show the milestones of his life backwards...you may have noticed that there was the ten year anniversary, then a few chapters later, there was the five year anniversary...**

**DG: The use of Scorpius' POV at the end of the chapter is a clever plot (or so I think/hope...) to show that that chapter had something the previous chapter didn't have and that things were twisted around compared to every other chapter and...and...**

**MotF: I'm so sorry my dear, but you're so wrong it made me smile...all shall be explained in this chapter, though. Unfortunately, I'm not so brilliant as to come up with such a plot twist...**

-

**Chapter Eighteen: Hathor, Egyptian Goddess of Happiness**

**-**

_Papa and Daddy never fought. They were always the loving couple. Sometimes, they'd have their slight disagreements where they didn't see eye to eye, like decided where I would attend school, but they'd never have an actual fight._

_One night, it was completely different. _

_Papa told Daddy that he didn't want me going to Hogwarts. He said that I wasn't allowed to go until Voldemort was killed. Dad disagreed. _

"_I want a divorce."_

_The words confused me. I didn't know what that was back when I was five. And it must have surprised Papa because he kept making noises as if he wanted to say something but couldn't think of anything to say._

"_I'll take Scorpius and Lily far away from here, Harry. I'll find a place where they can be safe. Australia or New Zealand or somewhere around there. Just...anywhere far away from the dangers here."_

"_They're safe..."_

"_They're not safe. If they were safe, they'd be able to go wherever they wanted. Scorpius barely ever gets to see the outside world. He's five and he's been to Diagon Alley _once_. That's not normal for a child of wizarding blood."_

"_Look at who his parents are, Draco...he's never going to be _normal_. And I don't understand what's with the divorce. We don't need a divorce to make the kids happy. You just need to hang on just a little bit longer. I'll defeat Voldemort and then we can be a happy family together." _

"_You've been fighting him for years. We're not going to be happy. We should have known this before we got married. We did know this; we just ignored it. Our children won't enjoy their lives. They can't grow up here. It's too dangerous and it's the wrong sort of life for them."_

_My papa seemed to struggle for words. "So you want to divorce me because I won't let Scorpius go to Hogwarts? That's what this all comes down to, right? It's making me so warm and fuzzy inside to know that that's the extent of your love for me."_

"_Don't you dare question my love for you, Harry." Prior to that, I hadn't heard my dad yell at Papa like that. "I'm thinking about the welfare of our children. We shouldn't have even had children or have gotten married, in reality..."_

"_Don't say something like that." Papa was yelling now, too. "Lily and Scorpius are our babies. They're our everything..."_

"_We can't provide them with the lives they need. To make them happy, we have to put them in danger and to make them safe, we have to sacrifice their happiness. You of all people should know this." My dad sighed heavily. "I'll see Raquel in the morning..."_

"_To do what? Lily's birth is in a few weeks. What would you do?"_

"_I'd have her raise her..."_

"_The _hell_ I'm letting that happen! Lily is _our_ baby! What's wrong with you?"_

"_I'm scared." It sounded like Daddy didn't mean to say those words. "I'm terrified that Scorpius and Lily won't be happy. We both grew up scared and unhappy...I don't want our children to suffer..."_

"_You don't want them to suffer, but you'd separate this family? Draco, there's no sense in that. Just...let's go to bed. We're tired and not thinking straight...we can talk about this in the morning, okay love?"_

_And then I heard them moving away from the door. _

_When I woke up, Daddy was out. Papa told me Daddy had gone to see Lily. _

_I found out later that Dad had gone to talk to my surrogate mother. Papa never told me why. But that was also the day Dad was caught and killed. _

_Papa never forgave himself for fighting with him._

-

Harry woke up feeling warmer than usual. His whole body tingled with bliss, feeling refreshed and exhilarated. In his arms, he held Draco, who was still sleeping. He looked down at his lover's face with a smile. The teen was so much cuter this close. That thought had Harry biting back a laugh, knowing it would wake him. He couldn't get over what they had done the night before. He had made love to Draco. He had admitted his love for him. And now they were curled up together after spending so long away from each other. It truly was a paradise to be there in Draco's arms.

It bugged him, though, that Draco seemed to know all along that he was Scorpius' papa. It made him wonder how much of it had been Draco's affections or Draco's knowledge.

"I can't feel my arm."

Draco's voice was groggy from sleep and it was then that Harry realised that the blonde's arm had been twisted under Harry's body at some point of the night. It also had Harry realising that Draco was awake, though his eyes were shut tight.

"Then why'd you put it under me?" Harry grinned, ducking down to kiss Draco's lips. He shifted to let Draco remove it, only to have him pull him in tighter.

"Comfy now."

"And incredibly caveman-ish if you ask me."

"Didn't."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at Draco's morning behaviour. The Slytherin obviously wasn't a morning person.

-

When Remus' eyes opened that morning, he found his lover hovering above him in their bed.

"No more," the werewolf grumbled, turning to his side. Severus was there in an instant, running a hand through the mousy brown hair he had come to love.

"I'm not the sex fiend you make me out to be."

Remus laughed from his throat. "Yeah? Tell that to my arse. I'm in a lot of pain here because you can't seem to go one night without going two rounds with me."

Severus shrugged lazily. "It's not my fault."

"And it's mine? Last I checked, men our ages aren't supposed to have a sex drive as big as yours."

Chuckling, Severus pulled Remus in close to him so they were hip to hip.

"I told you no more," Remus objected, swatting his lover on his shoulder. "Go have a cold shower or something."

"I'd prefer to have you."

Remus rolled his eyes but relaxed in Severus' arms.

"So, the next Hogsmeade weekend is in..."

"Severus, we can't be planning this," Remus argued. "We need to protect the students."

"I want to marry you," Severus told him firmly. "And I'm going to marry you."

"You're acting like a child."

"The Dark Lord would have contacted me about an ambush on the children. He knows that Potter's been banned from the weekends. He's not going to risk it. Besides, it's more likely he'll go for Albus. If all of the professors are out protecting the children, then who's there to prevent a wide-scale attack on the castle? He'd do it, too, after what happened last night. He doesn't take to losing such a large force too well."

Remus scooted closer to Severus and pressed their lips together briefly. "Go have a cold shower," he repeated softly. "I want some breakfast."

Severus groaned, but rolled out of bed nonetheless. He didn't bother hiding his arousal from his future husband as he headed towards the bathroom.

Keeping the door open, Severus let Remus see everything as he turned on the water to their shower, smirking as the steam from the heated water permeated their bedroom.

"I said a cold shower," Remus said, rolling into Severus' pillow.

"I thought I'd deal with it in a nicer manner."

And the thought of Severus masturbating was enough to get Remus out of bed and under the hot spray of water with him.

-

"I need an Invisibility Cloak."

Green eyes sparkled when one appeared to his right. Throwing it over his head, he headed out in the direction of the hallway, but the moment he stepped out of the room, he felt it disappear.

"Well...shit."

"Malfoy!"

"Oh fuck."

-

They kept getting sidetracked. Every time Draco moved, Harry just wanted to hold him and put him back to bed. They didn't have a clue if Draco had taken the poison or not, but Harry treated him as if he had. And whenever Harry touched Draco, it lit the fire all over again, which rendered the two of them interlocked in Draco's bed for another half hour.

"I really need to identify that poison," Draco muttered into Harry's chest. His entire body was aching. Harry grumbled something intelligible and wrapped his arms around Draco's waist. The poor brunette was exhausted. Neither was used to the marathon sex they'd been participating in, and were overly worn out. Draco winced as he tried to manoeuvre his way out of Harry's arms.

"Where are you going?"

"To get dressed. I need to figure this out, Harry. I can make a potion that'll check if I've got any foreign toxins in my body, but I have to get out of bed to do it."

Harry groaned, entirely unhappy with that fact, and relinquished his hold on his blonde lover.

With a pained grimace, Draco put his feet on the cold floor and stood away from the bed. He had never seen Harry snatch his glasses up so quickly in his life.

"Pervert."

The brunette merely smirked at him.

Painfully, Draco threw on a pair of jeans (for the third time that day) and headed towards his potions desk. He had three desks in his room, which was one of the perks of having your own bedroom. One was covered with potion making utensils, the other with text books, parchment, quills and various colours of ink and the other was his bedside table.

Harry propped himself up on one elbow to watch Draco move. He was always intrigued with how elegant the teen was when he was making potions.

"You know which one to make to see if you're okay?" Draco nodded his head, grabbing at random things Harry had never seen before. "And do you have everything to make it?"

"Of course I do. Open the trunk under the bed and grab me out some mint leaves, would you?"

"They're green, right?"

Unamused grey eyes turned to him to catch Harry's wide grin. Harry winked at him before he slipped out from under the blankets. Not caring that he was completely naked, Harry crouched low, reaching under the bed. He could feel Draco's eyes taking in every _millimetre_ of his skin. When he turned back to his lover, the green leaves in hand, he couldn't help but wrap himself around him.

"Now who's the pervert?"

"Get some clothes on."

"You sure?"

"Do you really want to put my life in this much danger, Harry?"

With a chaste kiss to Draco's temple, Harry complied, turning back to wherever his clothes had been strewn last night to slip them on.

"Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

"You can sit there and look pretty. I can do this myself. And I'd much rather do it alone; knowing you, you'd screw it all up."

"You shouldn't say the word 'screw'. It puts dirty images in my head."

Harry couldn't help but laugh as the blonde threw something at him over his shoulder.

"Dickhead."

"That has a dirty word in it, too..."

"Just shut up."

The smiles died down as Draco concentrated more on his work. It was completely effortless, if a little flawed. His movements were somewhat slower than usual, but Harry realised it was because he wasn't doing too well on his feet.

"Do you have anything to take the sting away?" Harry asked, almost innocently, from his spot on the bed. He nearly laughed as he saw the tips of Draco's ears go pink. "I'm sorry if it hurt..."

"It's okay. It's just a reminder that I haven't done that for a _very_ long time."

Harry resisted the temptation to grab Draco and pull him back into bed, if only to get his body back into the habit.

But there was something else on his mind.

"Hey, how long ago did you find out about our relationship?"

And that stiffened Draco's back.

"Not too long ago."

"Before when? Christmas?"

"Yes, I knew before that. It was the day we met in the Room of Requirement for our lessons after the first nightmare Scorp had."

Harry was dreading this. "You knew before the picnic?"

Draco nodded his head. "I didn't want to say anything."

"That was one of the most amazing days I've ever experienced and you knew..."

"It's not as if it had any affect. I had these feelings before I found out. It just helped me accept them." Without thinking, he added the next ingredients as if he wasn't talking to Harry at all. He didn't need any instructions; he knew everything off by heart.

"How many times have you been poisoned...?" Harry asked slowly, watching how efficiently Draco moved.

Draco sent him a grin. "Theo thought he was poisoned a few days ago. We have no idea what Parkinson's been up to, so we were taking all sorts of precautions. This is the third time this week." He let out a heavy sigh. "I'm so sick of it." The stirring motions he had started stopped and he sighed loudly again. Can you pass me the knife set from the trunk?"

"You've got a whole set of shiny knives up there."

"They're for plants. I need my meat ones now."

Harry groaned, but dug through Draco's case again, finding the set. When he gave them to his lover, he wrapped his arms around him, holding him tightly. That didn't halt Draco's movements at all. The hiss of the blade moving over the leather it was bound in always sent shivers down Harry's side, but the silver knife looked amazing. He then looked at the ingredients on the table.

"You only have plan..." His words were cut off short when Draco sliced his own finger, allowing several drops of blood to fall into the simmering potion. The swirling of the blood intrigued him until he realised the colours were changing. It went from its original green to pearl. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I'm clear. There's no poison in me."

Harry had never heard better news in his life. He grabbed at Draco's wrist, pulling the injured skin to his mouth. Once he had kissed the blood away, he started paying attention to Draco's neck.

"Mister Malfoy...Mister Potter...? Are you two in there?"

Both jolted at the voice coming from the doorway.

"Who is it?" Draco hissed, leaning his head back onto Harry's shoulder, loving the way Harry was tending to his neck again.

"My name is Julius Blackthorn, sir. I'm Crispin's friend. I have..."

With another heavy sigh, Draco shrugged out of Harry's arms and headed for the door. The moment he opened it, the spells were incapacitated and he was physically pushed down. Straight away, Harry was armed with his wand, having grabbed it from under Draco's pillow and was aiming it at the brunette sprawled across Draco.

And then he paused.

"Scorpius?"

The previously blonde teen looked up at him with a bright smile. "Papa!" He scrambled off his dad's fallen body and leapt up to embrace his papa.

"Scorp?" Draco asked, sitting up and turning to the pair with shock. "What the hell happened to your hair?"

"Focus on the important part, Draco," Harry grumbled before he stood back from the boy. "What happened to you? How are you back? Where did you go...?"

"Now there's the Papa I remember so lovingly," Scorpius grinned, looking up at his papa's face. "You're always asking a million questions regarding my safety."

"Scorpius..."

"What the hell happened to your hair?" Draco repeated, running a hand through the brown locks. "I don't like it. Change it back."

"That'd be my fault," Julius claimed, ruffling his own sandy hair. "I found him and I knew people would harass him if they saw him. So, using my special techniques, I disguised him. Should have known better than to assume I'd have any luck confusing his folks, though." With a quick wave of Julius' wand, the glamour was removed and the Scorpius they had gotten used to was staring up at him. "I'm quite good at them, though. That's how I get all my information. That's what I did the night the Death Eaters invaded. I was in disguise as someone else, so that if I was spotted, I could run away and they'd get the blame."

"Yes, fine, whatever," Draco muttered, his hands now playing with Scorpius' platinum hair. "You're here." He pulled his son into his arms and Scorpius suddenly flushed.

"What was I interrupting...?" he asked, realising his parents were topless.

"Nothing. We just got out of bed," Harry told him, causing Scorpius' mouth to drop open.

"I disappear and you two start having sex? You really know how to make your kid feel important, you know..."

"It's not like that, you cheeky little bugger."

"What were we to do, anyway?" Draco asked, reaching for his son again and ignoring Scorpius' ironic snort. "And it doesn't matter now that you're back. You're here and that's all that's important."

"It's been years since I've walked in on the two of you," Scorpius grinned playfully. Draco nearly choked on the air around him.

"Surely we weren't that stupid..."

The younger teen laughed. "You weren't stupid...just very horny."

"I don't need to hear that from my son," Harry grumbled before he glared at the Slytherin still standing in the door. "Anything else?"

"Nope, sorry sir. I'll be going now." And with that, Julius disappeared from the doorway, being kind enough to close the door.

"You didn't have to be so mean to him, Papa. He did me a huge favour taking care of me like that."

"He changed your hair colour," Draco argued, not sure if he would ever get over that. He never, ever, wanted to see that colour on the boy's head. "What happened to you, by the way?"

Scorpius shuddered visibly. "I was stuck somewhere...I could see you and Papa, but you were never together. He was out fighting the Death Eaters and you...you were burnt and molested..." His eyes started to tear. "And then I saw Grandfather putting a vial of something by someone's bed...he had to leave a note with it, and it said that it was a potion. He meant to poison you, but he didn't want to do it. He was being forced into it. That's why he didn't give it to Parkinson..." He stopped, noticing the hurt and anger on Draco and Harry's faces. "I kept flashing between the three of you like that, and then I saw Dad's death by the potion, and I saw the old Uncle Sev dying just moments after I took the time potion...it was non-stop. I saw Papa crying and there was no Lily. It was so strange..."

Harry stepped forward, hugging Scorpius. "Okay."

"And then I came back when I saw Grandfather give you the sample, Papa. I woke up in the Great Hall. I managed to run to the Room of Requirement but I couldn't go any further. I didn't want anyone seeing me and I know most Slytherins sneak out at night, so I couldn't make it to the dungeons, and I didn't know the password to the Gryffindor common room. But, as much as I tried, the Room wouldn't let me walk out under an Invisibility Cloak. It disappeared when I passed through the doors...I think I disappeared because Dad was going to die." The green eyes looked at Draco from over Harry's shoulders. "I think I'm back because you're safe now. You can come up with an antidote and all that now that you have a sample of the poison."

"Then this is a _really_ good sign," Harry grinned lovingly.

-

Remus felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop open. He and Severus had chosen to spend the day in their room, going over the last essays they had assigned. He had gone to the bathroom just for a few moments, and by the time he got back to his desk, there was a thin silver ring awaiting him.

"You said you wanted a ring. I got you one. Now will you agree to marry me?" Severus asked from his own desk, not bothering to look up at the man he was 'proposing' to.

"Idiot," Remus hissed, picking up the ring and tossing it at the back of Severus' head. "Are you _trying_ to kill me? Silver?" He watched as Severus turned around to look at him now. The potions master moved over to his lover, grabbing his wrist. He brought Remus' hand up to his eyes, noticing they were reddened like they had been scolded.

"Sorry." It was spoken softly, almost making Remus snort. Of course Severus couldn't apologise out loud. Severus bent his head down, kissing the tips of Remus' fingers where he'd come in contact with the silver. "I wasn't thinking. I just figured it would look good on you."

"I'm sure I'd be utterly irresistible being bloated and burning."

"Always irresistible, my love." He claimed Remus' lips yet again, cutting off whatever Remus would have said in response.

Severus hissed, much like Remus had earlier, stepping away from his future-husband. His hand clamped onto the tattoo he loathed, feeling it sear his flesh and his bones.

"It's been a while since he's contacted you," Remus stated, feeling uneasy. It was always a dreaded moment. They never knew if Severus was being summoned because Voldemort had figured out what was going on or if it was just a normal thing. Either way, he was always in danger and Remus hated it.

"Can you tell Albus for me?" Severus asked, ducking his head down to kiss Remus again.

"I will."

Remus' brown eyes followed Severus out of the room before he turned to their fireplace.

-

Draco groaned when the door was knocked on again.

"Who is it?" he demanded.

"It's Crispin, sir."

The blonde opened the door for him, glaring at him. "You're interrupting something here." He motioned towards the game of chess he and Scorpius had been participating in. Harry had suggested this since he didn't understand the conversations the two blondes had. He had had enough of the properties of whichever leaf and thorn and stem...

"Sorry about that, but we thought you'd like to know that _every_ Death Eater has been called out by the Dark Lord." He had a small smirk on his face, knowing that the information was highly intriguing. "Julius and I checked-every known Death Eater within Slytherin ran out about fifteen minutes ago. Even Professor Snape is missing and the other professors were seen going up to Dumbledore's office." He looked over at Harry. "I guess it's just a matter of moments before you're fetched, eh sir? The Order of the Phoenix can't do much without their child prodigy these days."

Harry blinked at the fourth-year repeatedly. "How do you know about the Order?"

"I know everything," he grinned proudly. "Julius and I make the Weasley twins look like beginners."

Scoffing, Harry smirked this time. "You've got a fair bit to go. By the time they were your age, they had stolen a map from Filch that shows them where everyone in Hogwarts is." He watched as the boy practically salivated over that thought. "But before them, the Marauders..."

"Bless them," Crispin sighed, though Harry's attention had turned to Scorpius when the boy looked up at him sharply.

"You know of the Marauders?" Scorpius asked.

"Let them be more legendary than Salazar himself. We found a map that must have been the prototype for the one you had. It had the locations of secret passageways. We've been going to Hogsmeade since second year. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs have been my greatest inspiration for the past two years. It's a real shame none of them left anything other than maps. Julius and I have tried to find out more about them, but it's impossible."

That caused Harry to grin. "I'll let you in on a secret not even the twins discovered." That made Crispin step into the room, closing the door behind him. "Moony, Wormtail and Padfoot never had any children, but Prongs did. He married and had one son. Surprisingly, both his son and his grandson are in Hogwarts right at this moment."

"Bull," Crispin accused. "How would you know that?"

"What's more, Padfoot was killed a few years ago, though he was the godfather to Prongs' son, and we see Moony practically every day."

"We could never figure out a timeline...how do you know this?"

Scorpius sighed heavily. "Actually, Moony's got a few days left of being forever single. He's getting married on Sunday."

Both Harry and Draco gasped, turning to their son. "What the hell?" Harry asked.

"Why didn't Severus tell me this?"

The blonde boy laughed. "I don't think Uncle Remus knows yet. From what I can remember from what Uncle Severus told me, he practically sprung the notion on him, buying him a silver ring and all. He told me Uncle Remus threw it at him, calling him an idiot. I mean, seriously, what kind of moron do you have to be to give a silver engagement ring to a werewolf?"

"_What_?"

Harry returned his gaze to Crispin. "I thought you knew everything."

"Well, of course I knew Professor Snape and Professor Lupin were screwing, but I didn't know there'd be a wedding...we always thought it was a lust thing...wait..._Remus Lupin_ is Moony?" His jaw fell open. "_You're Prongs' son_? Dear Merlin...you were just born to greatness, weren't you?"

And from that moment on, Harry regretted telling Crispin those things. He was instantly reminded of how the Creevey brothers were around him. Only, Crispin now admired him because of whose child he was. Not because of whom he was, which was almost a welcomed change.

-

Severus bowed his head low as he Apparated into Voldemort's throne room with the rest of the Death Eaters. The first thing he noticed was how crowded the room was. It was very rare for the entire group to be called, but as he felt others brush against him, he realised that that was exactly what had happened.

"My faithful," Voldemort called out, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the several heads bowed to him. "I have called you all here today because our ranks are quickly diminishing. Somehow, the Order of the Phoenix has been destroying us. Those caught are willingly giving out names. Dumbledore backtracks; he finds where you last were and waits for another to use that safe house." He paused, sighing heavily. "We outnumber him and his Order! We should be the ones annihilating them! What is going wrong, my servants? How is this happening?"

No one dared to answer. Their lord was in a horrible mood (reasonably so), and no one wanted to volunteer their voices. Had they spoken up, they most likely would have been killed instantly.

"Am I to suspect that there are a few spies among us, selling their fellow Death Eaters out for a lesser sentence or is it that the faithful are weak? Miss Parkinson," he barked the name out suddenly, "how is your little project going?"

There was a shuffling and Parkinson moved forward. "Unfortunately, my Lord, he hasn't had a meal in the Great Hall...I haven't had a chance..."

Her screams sounded throughout the room as Voldemort tortured her for her mistakes. Several Death Eaters winced at her shrieks and cries, but Severus wasn't one of them. He was nearly thankful that the bitch was getting treated that way. After everything she did to Draco, she had pretty much deserved it.

Voldemort released her from the curse and sighed heavily. "From what I have been told, Draco Malfoy is the lover of our dear Harry. Do you not want to make Harry suffer for what he's done to my Death Eaters? How many of my loyal servants have had their soul removed because of him? The least we can do is take away his loved one, don't you think?"

She nodded her head fervently, agreeing with whatever her lord was saying, despite the fact her body was still cringing and twitching with pain.

"The next time I see you, I shall be praising you for a job well done," he continued, shoving her away with his foot. "If not, you'll be dead."

And with that, he turned his attention to the rest of the Death Eaters. There were few left and several had not Apparated along with the others. Rather, several appeared to be missing and he was certain the Order hadn't captured that many.

He opened his opened his mouth to comment on this, but his words were interrupted by a sudden scream. Instantly knowing what it was, he rushed to the connecting room, ignoring the Death Eaters, worried for the creature that had made that noise.

"Severus, come with me."

He did as he was told, falling into stride behind the Dark Lord.

The double doors opened fiercely as they made their way into the room.

Severus nearly froze at what he saw. Bellatrix was standing over the humanoid creature; both were covered with blood as Bellatrix continued to stab at whatever she could reach, be it an arm or the couch Nagini had been sitting on.

Voldemort wasted no time in stopping the woman, casting the Cruciatus on her before she could continue the assault. Lestrange fell to the floor in a writhing, wailing fit, feeling the anger she had caused. "Nagini," Voldemort breathed, kneeling by the screaming snake. He instantly started to assess the wounds covering her body, starting with her abdomen.

"Severus!" he hissed, turning around to face the potions master. "Give me whatever potions you have on you that might help."

Severus did just that, fishing out several pain killing potions, blood clotting potions and one designed to repair internal bleeding. The Dark Lord took them without questioning why his minion would have such potions on hand, knowing his own habit of taking his anger out of his slaves.

"Drink these, my love," he said, speaking English. Nagini understood the words, downing each potion she was handed. She sobbed as she did, her hand protectively on her stomach.

She began to hiss at her lover, both of them ignoring the fact Bellatrix was still under the Cruciatus. Severus watched as Voldemort listened intently, his hand covering Nagini's as she spoke, sobbing harder as the story continued.

Voldemort bit out a curse at the end of it, turning around to Severus. "Check her to see if she's pregnant."

The order shocked Severus, but he raised his wand, pointing it at the snake's stomach, over the pair of hands covering it. With a mutter, he felt his wand vibrate before the tip turned blue. "She's with child." He had never seen such a look of relief on his master's face.

Voldemort moved up, kissing Nagini swiftly. He then turned his attention to Bellatrix. "She attacked Nagini when she learnt of the pregnancy. The foolish woman was convinced she was meant to be my lover."

"What would you like done with her, my Lord?" Severus asked, knowing Bellatrix wasn't going to get away with the attack. As it was, he was almost sure she would be tortured to insanity much like the Longbottoms.

"I want her gone. Give her to Dumbledore."

Severus bowed in understanding, levitating the woman once Voldemort lifted the curse from her.

"Is there anything else, my Lord?"

"I want you to keep an eye of your students. I want to know which ones are strong enough for battle."

"Yes, my Lord."

-

**Three more chapters to go...! Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews please...?**


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Ares

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Well, I think I've figured out why my stories are so demented emotionally wise...my heart is faulty...it all makes sense...I have to walk around with a heart monitor strapped to me for a whole day, but if the doctor's suspicions are correct, electronically, my heart is stuffy...so I suffer painful heart palpitations every now and then. According to her, I might have supraventricular tachycardia...WTF???**

**Saki-18: HOLY CRAP! You can't be serious...! There's no way I'm getting another story up and going before then...lol...wow...high expectations...XD**

**Malissandre: I was hoping people would like that part...**

**shadowama: Ah..! Just you wait...there shall be good times with her...**

**Okay, so generally, people are freaked out over the whole pregnant Nagini thing. **

-

**Chapter Nineteen: Ares, Greek God of War**

**-**

_Saying we were a happy family might have been pushing it, but we loved each other to death. My papa and my daddy adored each other and they both doted on me. They would have done the same for Lils._

_Sometimes, I like to think back on how my birth would have happened. The decision to have a child when they were in that position couldn't have been an easy one. I mean, how many couples don't procreate because of money reasons? I wish it was something that simple. No; my parents had a crazy bastard wanting the both of them dead. _

_It was comforting to know that they wanted me. There was nothing more heart-warming than to know that your parents had gone to such lengths just to bring you into their world. Dad had tried for so long to figure out how that potion would have worked, and had tried so many different combinations that should have worked. I wish I could have seen the happiness on his face when he discovered he had finally worked it all out. It would have been so good to see the look on Papa's face when he told him._

_Papa always told me that they knew who my surrogate mother was going to be the moment they met her. He knew straight away that she would be the one to carry the child of him and his loved one. _

_I like to imagine I was created out of love. _

-

Scorpius couldn't remember how it happened. At one point, he, his dad and his papa were enjoying their time together, and then they were split up. His papa was taken off to Dumbledore's office to discuss the final step they had planned in the war. It was official. This attack on the Death Eaters would be their last. From what Severus had passed on, the Death Eaters were at their worst yet, and Voldemort's attention would be divided.

He didn't say how or why Voldemort wouldn't be completely focused, though.

He had also brought back with him someone who shocked their system.

Bellatrix Lestrange, tied down to a chair, was positioned in the middle of Albus' office, cursing them all for their attempts on her Lord's life.

Even though Voldemort had betrayed her for a snake, she said nothing that would have endangered him.

"You all will die," she hissed, leering at Remus. "The Dark Lord..."

"Betrayed you? Sold you out for his pregnant _snake_?" Severus smirked, eyeing Bellatrix. "You were, after all, meant to be his lover, weren't you? It was you who was supposed to provide him with an heir?"

Her eyes narrowed as she glowered at the spy. "Do what you will to me, but I will never betray my Lord's trust in me."

Severus snorted. "He kicked you out for attacking Nagini. He doesn't care about you anymore. He told me to do anything I wanted to do to you..."

"He got his pet snake pregnant?" Harry asked, his brain finally catching up. He hoped to hell that his stomach would never get that information. He was certain the knowledge would surely cause him to empty his stomach. "That's just sick...and impossible..."

"The Dark Lord can do anything he puts his mind to," Bellatrix bragged haughtily.

"Including his snake. That's more than a little bit disgusting."

Her eyes flickered with rage at that. "My Lord found out how to turn her human. It's not as disgusting as you assume." It clearly pained her to say such things.

"Why defend him?" Remus asked, sighing heavily. "Why defend a man who left you for an animal? I know that if my lover ran off with any pet we might have, I'd want to hex his balls off at the least."

That received a scoff from Harry, who was then glared at by Severus.

"I'd probably do the same, though there'd probably be a lot of crying on my behalf," Harry agreed after he cleared his throat.

Those words just seemed to piss Bellatrix off more. "You and my nephew...that's what's disgusting. A boy like him would abandon his entire family for you. It's wrong. He had so much potential..."

"He's not a murderer," Harry argued firmly. "And what he found because of it is a family who'll love him always."

She sneered. "He lost everything. Do you think you can make him happy? Do you think it's so easy for him to turn away from everything he's ever known?" She scoffed and settled into the chair, acting as if she wasn't chained to it. "You're wrong. He was raised to be the perfect little Death Eater. Whatever he might be now won't make him happy. You'll take away from him everything he learnt as a child. It would disgust you to know half of what he knows."

Harry turned away, uninterested in what she was saying. He knew that Draco had been raised that way. He knew that Draco had been expected to be the most loyal Death Eater yet, but he couldn't help but overlook those things. Knowing the life Scorpius had lived through would be enough to change anybody's mind. Hell, if Scorpius had been on the other side of the war, Harry probably would have changed, if only to keep his son safe and happy. He wanted to make the best life possible for his family, and was sure that Draco wanted the same.

"I know I can make him happy," Harry claimed, folding his arms over his chest as he forced himself to look back at the Death Eater. "What about you? Can you make your loved one happy? Oh, that's right; he's in love with a snake. You weren't even good enough to beat a low reptile in a competition for his love. I bet he's never once considered soiling himself by being inside you. And yet, he's been with Nagini. He's starting a life with her. How the hell does someone lose out to a snake like that? Either you have to be that pathetically disgusting, or he's just that damn twisted and fucked up in the head."

By that point, tears of anger had started to well in her eyes.

"Now, now, Harry," Albus sighed heavily. "That wasn't appropriate."

"Despite how correct it was," Remus agreed, placing himself against the desk so that he was next to Harry. "It's gotta sting to hear that."

"Tell us what you know about Lord Voldemort and we'll try to get you a lesser sentence. You might be able to keep your soul," Albus bargained softly, moving around his desk to stand in front of Bellatrix. "You're not doing yourself any good by keeping the information from us."

She shook her head angrily. "I'll never tell you anything about him! He might have chosen that _snake_ over me, but that doesn't stop my love for him!"

There was a twinkle in Albus' eyes as he raised an ancient eyebrow. Harry didn't like this look on the old wizard. It was nearly sadistic. "You'd rather die than tell us what Voldemort's been planning?"

"Yes," she hissed out, low and under her breath.

"Then you shall suffer in perhaps the worst way imaginable." Before she could question him, he had grabbed a vial of a clear liquid from his robes. "Severus supplied me with this a few days ago. Truth serum, my dear. You'll tell us everything you know and you won't even be tortured for it."

The tears spilt over, wetting her cheeks, in an instant, "I'll never betray my Lord..."

"You're not getting a choice."

With that, he motioned to Severus, who moved behind the witch to assist Albus in pouring the potion down her throat. She hacked at first, struggled against the two men as she tried to refuse the potion, but was forced to do so when Albus cast a spell that would lessen the muscles he directed. He had her swallow every drop he had forced into her mouth.

"Now that that's done, I want to know about everything."

From the look on her face, Harry was certain she was about to swallow her own tongue. The very last thing she wanted to do was give away the secrets of her loved one.

However, she spilt the answer to every question they had asked.

-

Draco nearly jumped as he felt Harry's arms wrap around his waist. He and Scorpius had relocated to the Room of Requirement, knowing it would be complicated for Harry to return to the Slytherin dorms.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, leaning back into Harry's chest. Scorpius tried his hardest not to grin at his parent's actions toward each other, so he turned around instead.

"Voldemort's having a child."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah...he knocked up his pet snake."

Draco shuddered and Scorpius turned to look at them again. "Are you for real? That's insane...and disgusting and it certainly didn't happen in my time..."

"He's turned her human and got her pregnant. They're preparing an attack for tonight." Harry let out a heavy sigh. "You're happy, right?"

The blonde moved around so he could face Harry. "Of course I am."

"It's not too big of a change for you? Being on this side of the war, I mean?"

Grey eyes became concerned. "Why are you thinking about that? I'm happy here with you and Scorpius. It's perfect-everything I've ever wanted. I might have agreed with the Dark Lord to begin with, but things change and I'm okay with that. If I had continued that way, I'd never have a choice in anything I'd do. I'd be forced to marry someone You-Know-Who chose. I wouldn't have a say in it at all. I'm happy loving the person I have children with, Harry. I'd never change that."

Scorpius grinned, watching his parents. He couldn't express how much he missed them and was beyond cheerful to see his dad's change.

"So what's happening tonight?" Scorpius asked, gaining attention from his parents.

"_You_ will be locked up in here, under your Cloak, and will not move until we come and get you personally...and even then, you're not to show yourself, not until we're here for an hour," Harry ordered.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "You really think someone's gonna show up under the Polyjuice?" He had expected this of his papa.

"Yes."

"I'm coming with you," Draco stated, leaning back in Harry's arms.

"No you're not," Harry instantly argued. The last thing he wanted was for either of the blondes in his family to get involved in this battle. "You can stay here and help protect the castle, but you're not heading out there to stop it. That's for us Order members."

"So I can go," Scorpius figured. "I'm a member of the Order of the Phoenix, remember?"

Draco cuffed him upside his head. "You're not going anywhere...you barely know how to use your wand."

"I can pour potions over people...!"

"You're staying in here, Scorpius. You might think that you can fight, but you can't."

Green eyes narrowed into a glare, showing Scorpius' unhappiness at that particular decision. "I'm strong enough, Dad. Unlike you, I lived through it. Out of all of us in this room, I'm the only one who hasn't been killed by Voldemort."

"That's enough," Harry said sternly, his voice nearly scaring Draco. His son, on the other hand, had heard it before. "Have you ever fought against him, Scorpius? Do you know what it's like to face that monster? You might have survived, but I don't recall you ever telling us that you actually met him on the battlefield, or stepped onto any battlefield to begin with. Unlike you, I know how terrifying it is..."

"You think I don't know how terrifying it is? I was scared out of my mind whenever you went off on a raid. I never knew if you were coming back or not and that frightened me more than anything else. If I can live through that, I can live through a battle. I outlived both my parents before I was sixteen." Angry tears splashed down his cheeks. "I'm the son of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. I am the heir of two of the most powerful bloodlines in our world-do you think that's something to be taken lightly? You had to keep me a secret from Voldemort because you know he'd want me on his side or dead. I know what it's like to be scared all the time. I've been ready for this all my life. If Uncle Sev didn't think I was ready, he never would have sent me back."

"I'm certain he didn't intend on letting you fight. Besides, I've trained enough to finish the job. We don't need your help."

"Fine, I'll help Dad."

"No you won't," Draco objected, just like Harry did. "My father at least trained me. You've had next to no training..."

"Uncle Sev trained me..."

It didn't convince either of them.

"You're not fighting at all, Scorpius, and that's final."

Draco was nearly impressed by Harry's treatment. For someone who hadn't known his parents, he certainly knew how to get the tone right.

-

Albus got to evacuating as many students as he possibly could. The only issue was that they had to keep it all silent so that the spies wouldn't find out and tell Voldemort. They were prepared for his attack, but if he knew that they knew, he'd know about Severus. The Floo network was opened up so that the students could be sent to the Ministry of Magic and did so when the students had their free periods. Once the free students were out of the castle, the first year students were next. The area they were taken to was to be supervised at all times, just to make sure that the spies didn't find out. It was also in this room that the students were checked for the Dark Mark, along with any Dark items, similar to the coins Hermione had fashioned all those years ago, just in case someone had used that particular idea. All wands were confiscated.

By the third period, four students had been taken to the Aurors with the Mark. It shocked them to discover they were as young as fourteen. They were promptly arrested.

Fifth period had every student relocated to the Ministry, and nineteen arrests. Several had the Dark Mark, whereas others had Dark items. Pansy Parkinson and two six-year Slytherins were the only ones to have both on them. However, the Death Eaters weren't solely in Slytherin. Five of the caught were from Ravenclaw; one was Marked, the other four had an item or two.

There was something that didn't get past Crispin's eyes. He had instantly noticed Scorpius' absence. Hell, Theo had been brought along with them, as had Granger and the Weasleys. And yet, Scorpius, Draco and Harry were missing.

"Well, we can't blame Potter for not being here," Julius sighed under his breath, looking over to the line of Gryffindors. They were the only House that remained whole. The other ones lost a few members due to the arrests. "Who would have thought there'd be Hufflepuff Death Eaters?"

"We did," Crispin grinned, his elbow in Julius' ribs. "I told you Parks was one. He was always dashing off with Parkinson."

"At least that means she's still not getting laid."

Both boys shuddered simultaneously.

"You know, maybe we should have told the Order about this..."

"About Parkinson and the possibility of someone...?"

"No, you wanker..."

"Please don't say 'wank' that soon after Parkinson's been mentioned...that's just nasty..." Julius cut himself off short as an Auror walked passed. "We've known about half of these people for so long...It was wrong of us not to speak up. We could have told Theo or Draco and they would have passed it on to the Order and..."

"And they'd want proof. They'd want to know how they found out. And to do that, they'd have to rat us out and I'd rather not have all the Death Eaters know that we're actually against them. We mightn't be the most Slytherin of Slytherins out there, but I'm Slytherin enough to admit I don't wanna be the rat in the snake pit."

Julius raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "How long have you been hanging on to that particular proclamation?"

A grin cracked open on Crispin's face. "Years, buddy. It's been years since that one came into my head."

The laughter couldn't be prevented, but it ended in harsh choking as they tried to stop after Minerva glared at them. Severus took over.

"Would you like to explain what's so funny?" he asked, using the tone he reserved for his students.

They both shook their heads. "Though, is there any chance you could tell us what's going on? If there's going to be an attack at Hogwarts, you can't very well expect the DA to stay out of it. They must be plotting..." Crispin quelled his words as Severus' eyes flashed angrily.

"And what makes you think that's the case?"

"The fact that Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter are missing, sir. I'm quite certain they weren't simply overlooked and are using the alone time to shag each other silly..." His sentence was yet again cut short by the look he received. Julius found it amusing, at least. "And Scorpius is missing, too. I know Sir Potter would have told you about his return."

A raised eyebrow had Crispin rethinking his words.

"_Sir Potter_?" Severus asked.

"He is the son of the legendary Prongs, after all," Julius piped up, looking as proud as ever. "Even if You-Know-Who destroys him and feeds him to his snake, Sir Potter will always be our hero."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Keep your theories to yourself, boys. I don't want to hear you saying anything like that."

"How about in another language?"

"I can't speak another language..." Crispin argued.

"I guess you don't have to worry about that, sir."

Their Head of House turned on his heel to walk away, though nearly ran into Remus, who had come up beside him.

"Oh! Thanks for the invite to the wedding!" Julius thanked, a wicked smirk on his face as he waved his professors farewell.

Within seconds, Remus' face had gone beet red, just proving what Scorpius had said to be true.

"Are you for real?" Crispin asked, eyeing the two of them. "There's no way our legendary Moony would..." His mouth continued to move, but his voice wasn't working. Severus had cast a silencing charm on the boy. He saw Julius open his mouth to take over, but he received the same treatment.

"That's enough," Severus hissed. "If I hear you two talking about things you _shouldn't be talking about_,"

And with that, both professors left them. It wasn't until several minutes later that the two children were given back the ability to speak.

-

The attack was well on its way to becoming a fully fledged war, Scorpius observed, as he walked through the carnage it had already created, even though the first Death Eater had been captured only three minutes ago. Hidden under his Cloak, he strayed out onto the battle field, ignoring the words of both his parents, as he focused on helping them out. As far as he could see, there were duels breaking out between the two sides, some ending in a flash of green, others ending with ropes as the Death Eaters were bound.

He searched for his parents, knowing that his papa was further out towards the Great Lake and his dad would be closer to the castle. Carefully, Scorpius dodged the unaware fighters, making sure he stayed well away from the blasts of light spewing forth from various wands. The last thing he really needed to do was get caught by a crossfire.

He couldn't see Voldemort anywhere. Regardless to what he had told his parents, he was terrified of that creature. He had destroyed his life; taken everything away from him. And now, he had the chance to witness his papa kill that monster. It was something he'd waited his whole life to see.

Scorpius nearly jumped out of his skin when bumped into someone, so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice them. The Death Eater looked around wildly, trying to locate where that force had come from, until Scorpius pulled his wand from his satchel and Stunned the older man. He was barely thrown back. Swearing under his breath, Scorpius turned and ran, determined not to be caught, despite the fact he was invisible.

-

Remus whirled around when he heard a familiar growl. The full moon was many nights away, but he knew of a werewolf who had taken to feasting on humans while he was still in his man form.

He came face to face with the same wolf that had turned him all those years ago.

"Greyback," he greeted cordially, though he felt the bile rise in his throat at the sight of blood covering the older wolf's chin. The werewolf wasn't using his wand, Remus noticed, and had instead gone for the raw strength he had. Failing to surprise Remus, he launched himself at the smaller werewolf, his teeth instantly going for Remus' throat. Defensively, Remus raised his arms, catching Greyback by his shoulders and shoving him away roughly, showing that he, too, had the strength of a werewolf.

The feral man got back up, repeating the attack.

-

"You want in on it, right?"

Crispin looked up sharply as Theo stepped up behind him. He and Julius had taken to sitting on the ground, sighing heavily at each professor and prefect that walked past.

"In on what?"

"The battle. I know you know it's happening. We need to get there."

Julius took very little time to make up his mind. "Yeah, we want in. However, we can't Apparate. We might be amazing, but Splinching is never high on the 'want' list."

"And, well, breaking federal laws is also against that," Crispin added. "They're fighting for our freedom, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Theo nodded his head before he dragged the two of them up by their elbows. "Come with me."

And with that, he pulled them into the shadows, where the majority of the DA was hiding. "Got it all sorted yet, Granger?"

Hermione nodded her head, waiting for the opportune moment. When she saw an Auror Apparate into the room, she Apparated out with a twist of her body. Everyone else followed suit, side-Apparated where needed. When they appeared in Hogsmeade, Ron got around to distributing the stolen wands around.

"Remember everything Harry's taught you over the years. When you see a Death Eater, don't hesitate. Blast him. Do whatever you can to stop them from moving. Take their wands-snap them if it's necessary. You got it?" he briefed, glancing over the handful they had gotten out of the Ministry. When they all nodded their heads in affirmation, they took off.

-

Scorpius caught a flash of blonde hair as he saw his dad head towards the castle, hot on the heels of a Death Eater who had gotten past. And then he spotted his papa.

Watching his papa in action was one of the most amazing things of his life. Harry cast hex after hex as he tried to stop the Death Eaters, waiting for Voldemort so he could finally finish him off.

Another batch of blonde caught his eye and before he knew it, his grandfather was in front of him, unknowingly so. Worse yet, he was fighting against the Order members.

As Lucius raised his wand, pointing it at Tonks, Scorpius ran out between them, grabbing his grandfather's wand from his hand.

"Grandfather!" he cried out, taking off the Cloak. "You can't do this. If you choose Voldemort's side..."

Lucius silenced him by closing the distance between them. For the first time in his life, Scorpius felt the embrace of one of his grandparents.

"Scorpius," Lucius breathed softly, lowering his head to his grandson's shoulder. "You shouldn't be here. Go back into the castle..."

"If you stay here, you'll never get to see me in the future. In my time, I never met you. You were never around, Grandfather. But I want the other me to know you and Grandmother. Trust me, if you go through with Voldemort, your grandchildren will never know you. Please..."

Lucius held him tighter. "I know. Just...go back inside. It's safer for you in there. I'll protect your parents, no matter what."

"Grandfather..."

"Go."

The older Malfoy took his wand back and turned his back on his grandson, this time taking out the Death Eater Tonks was duelling with. He didn't stay to see if Scorpius got back or not, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to see anyway. It tore at him, though, knowing that he couldn't take care of his grandson.

-

Albus calmly looked up as the door to his office opened. He couldn't imagine how anyone would have gotten up to him so soon, or how they used the password, but what he saw nearly shocked his old heart into skipping a beat.

Standing before him was a creature he had lost so many years ago. The last time he had seen her, she was nothing more than a few years old. And now, she was as strangely beautiful as he had last created her to be.

Her breathing was laboured as she stood to her full height (clumsily so), resting a clawed hand on the doorhandle behind her for extra help.

"I never thought...I'd ssssssssssssee you again," she literally hissed out, struggling slightly with her words. "My dearessssssssst love...had told me you had obtained...high praissssssssse for the work...you have done in your...life."

Blue eyes widened as Albus realised just who she was. "Nagini? Of all the snakes..."

"We wonder if you'd be assssssssss appreciated if they knew...how you got ssssssssso ssssssssssstrong, Albussssssssss Dumbledore," she continued, her free hand resting protectively on her stomach again.

"You're pregnant," Albus observed. "You're the one carrying his child..."

"Do they know what you did?!"

Albus stood, causing Nagini to grasp at the dagger attached to her hip. "My dear, the fact that you're carrying that baby is enough to warrant your death. Put the weapon down and I'll make it as painless as possible."

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she backed away, coming in contact with the door. "Tom told me I could...kill you. It isssssssss my right to kill you!"

The old man shook his head, advancing towards her. "That child in your belly is nothing our world has ever seen before, Nagini. It cannot survive. You cannot possibly give birth to a child that is half human and half snake..."

"My DNA...Tom changed it...I will have a human baby with my lover."

Those eyes darkened. "That child won't see the light of day."

-

Harry paused when he saw Voldemort. The Dark Lord finally entered the battle field, with no one by his side. His usually Death Eater-flanked sides were bare. No one was there to cover him. Harry watched as red eyes darted across the scene, taking in how few Death Eaters remained as two of his own battled against them, siding with the Order of the Phoenix.

Then he looked up at the castle, his eyes lingering where Harry knew to be Albus' office. The two of them saw a shadow move before a loud hissing reached their ears. It was a scream of pain, Harry instantly recognised.

Voldemort cringed at the sound before his eyes turned to Harry, making contact. He knew exactly what had happened in that office and was more than pissed off.

"Dearest Harry," he greeted, bowing lightly. "I see Severus tipped the Order off about this attack."

"Indeed he did," Harry replied nonchalantly. He readjusted his grip on his wand, feeling it begin to slip as he started to sweat.

Voldemort sighed heavily. "Who's to say my Killing Curse will work this time? For that very reason, I won't use it. It'll be too boring to kill you with it and too much of a risk for me to use it."

And with that, the duel began, his first hex being the Cruciatus. Harry dodged it easily, having an idea that that would have been Voldemort's first move. Remembering everything he had been taught, Harry protected himself from the oncoming attacks, but knew it wasn't going to work. Their wands were still connected through Fawkes' feather.

That was where the training really came in handy. He dodged Voldemort's every attack, not wanting to complete that connection through defensive spells, moving closer and closer to the dark wizard with every step until he was close enough for the final blow.

With a hastily muttered spell, Harry transfigured a nearby stone into a dagger. It was in his hand in a matter of seconds and then lodged in Voldemort's chest before the old wizard knew what was happening.

-

Draco's feet stopped abruptly when he reached Albus' office. He had heard the hissing and had a feeling he knew what was going on. When he walked in, he found Albus sitting calmly behind his desk. In the middle of the room was Nagini's dead body. Her throat had been slashed by the looks of things, and a second wound had opened up her stomach.

It was perhaps the most revolting sight Draco had ever seen. He had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from vomiting.

"Sir?"

"She killed herself, choosing death over losing her child to us," Albus explained, running a hand through his beard. It shocked Draco to see him looking so disappointed. "She slashed her abdomen, destroying the child, before she slit her own throat. How Tom could do something this shocking is beyond me."

Draco nodded his head before he turned away.

He would never know why Albus was so disappointed with the loss of that baby.

-

Severus used the Killing Curse for, what he hoped to be, the last time in his life. The lifeless body of Greyback fell onto Severus' lover, who was exceedingly thankful for him.

When Remus stood, Severus was by his side instantly, helping him to stay standing. The werewolf was covered in blood, which was both his own and Greyback's.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked softly, his hand running up and down Remus' back comfortingly.

"Yeah. Just a little beaten."

Severus couldn't have been more thankful.

"What of Harry?"

"He won."

-

The Death Eaters were quickly rounded up. Now that their lord had died, there was nothing left for them to do. The Aurors arrested them on sight, binding them.

There were two in Death Eater robes who raised suspicion, though. Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy donned the black cloaks and the masks were found with them, but both denied their roles as Death Eaters. Albus was there in a heartbeat to vouch for Severus and Harry was there for Lucius.

Draco was in his arms moments after the Aurors turned away to deal with other business. Harry returned the embrace, feeling relieved his future-husband was safe.

"And Scorpius?" Lucius asked, his eyes avoiding the scene before him. He didn't particularly want to see his son all over Harry Potter.

"He should be safe in the castle. I told him not to get involved," Harry answered confidently. He was generally surprised when Severus started to call out to the youngest Malfoy. "What? He would have listened..."

"He's got Potter blood in him," Severus objected as he continued to search for the blonde child.

"Shit..."

Draco had already started to run back into the castle, headed straight for the Room of Requirement.

-

Harry started as he heard Theo's voice. In a move that had stirred Harry's stomach into a storm, he had taken to checking all the dead bodies, just to make sure his son wasn't one of them. Amongst his search, he had found Charlie, dead from the Avada Kedavra.

He ran over to Theo (how the Slytherin got there was a completely different question) and stood by him as Theo pointed to a patch of pink hair on the outskirts of the forest. Every now and then, when the wind picked up, he could see more of the body. Realising it was someone under and Invisibility Cloak, Harry took off, running as fast as his legs would let him. He was by the person's side in seconds, lifting the Cloak off him.

"Oh god," he breathed, noticing his son, despite the blood covering him. "Scorpius."

-

**Kyuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I hate battle scenes!! I can never write them...**

**So....! Review me please? Two more chapters left, peoples!! **

**Oh, and the poll is up and working now if you wanna help me choose which fic to write next...**

**See ya next week...I'm off to the Spiegeltent now!!**


	20. Chapter Twenty: Brigid

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

**Hello and welcome to the second last chapter of 'When Time Isn't Enough'. **

**Chibi Makoto: I didn't wanna hear about the lasering of your heart...now you're making me worry...gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...**

**DreamingInColour: I'm not that good of an author to do something that gallant...XD**

**beware-of-weeping-angels: Errrm...not quite...but thanks XD**

**To those confused about the Nagini/Dumbledore thing, I'm basically getting myself psyched up for 'My Own Control', making him the evil bastard he is in that (despite the fact he's dead...). If you remember way back when, Voldemort told Lucius that Nagini was given a human form when they first met...he said that someone had experimented on her as a snake to transfigure her into a human...twas Dumbledore, which is why Nagini hated him so much.**

-

**Chapter Twenty: Brigid, Celtic Goddess of Healing**

**-**

"Oh god," he breathed, noticing his son, despite the blood covering him. "Scorpius."

-

There weren't many deaths suffered by the Order of the Phoenix. Both Charlie and Tonks had perished painlessly, having both received the Avada Kedavra early on in the night. Remus had been beaten pretty badly; he had pretty much decided that Greyback had won the battle between them. It was only Severus' curse that had saved him. Prior to that, Greyback had fed on a few of the DA members. Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Zacharias Smith and Dean Thomas (though Dean had survived the onslaught and was struggling for life in the medical wing) had all been attacked by the werewolf. The first three had also died. Fred had lost a leg, Julius was blind in his left eye, Ginny had several broken ribs and the state of her spine was in question and Ernie Macmillan would forever have a twitch from the constant Cruciatus Curses he had suffered under the 'playful' wands of the Carrows.

The death of Charlie and the condition of Ginny had the Weasleys in a state of shock. Ginny had been sent to the medical wing and was under Poppy's care, but she had been put into an induced coma so not to feel the intense pain. It was like she had been in a car crash where the seat belt was on too tightly and effectively crashed the front of her body. At first, Molly had cried herself ill when she had heard about Charlie's death. Remus, too, was more than a little upset over Tonks, despite his own injuries. Severus had him in bed, tending for his wounds as if he had lost several limbs. His home-made salve had never been used so much before. Even when the first week had passed and all Remus had left were some nasty cuts, Severus had been by his side constantly. He barely allowed the werewolf out of bed so that he could attend the funerals.

Tonks' funeral was the first one. She was buried in her family cemetery by her own parents, who sobbed the whole time. However, they were as proud as they ever could have been. Their daughter had given her life so that others could live in happiness.

The Weasleys tried to delay Charlie's funeral, hoping that Ginny would have been strong enough to see it. They wanted Ginny to be able to farewell her brother properly, like her siblings were. However, after the first five days, they realised she was still far too unstable to take her out of the coma and decided Charlie's body needed to be put to ground.

By the sixth day, things had settled. The Death Eaters found on the scene were sent to Azkaban. Bellatrix had killed herself before that had happened, having finding a way to strangle herself on the chains she was bound in.

Lucius and Severus were the only Death Eaters who escaped the life-long sentence to Azkaban. Albus vouched for Severus' integrity and Harry told the Wizengamot that Lucius and Narcissa had changed sides before Voldemort's downfall. He proved it with his own memories taken from a Pensieve. Besides, when the Great Harry Potter, the defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort, said some guy was good, the public had no other choice than to believe him.

That trial was the only time Harry had willingly left the medical wing for he had a lecture ready for when Scorpius woke up. Despite the scare Harry and Draco had gone through, their son had made it. He might have been bloodied, broken and beaten, but he was alive.

Unfortunately, he was grounded until he was twenty, and both teens had it in mind to keep the grounding in place for when Scorpius was born that second time around.

Unlike Ginny, the boy's unconscious state wasn't magically induced. He had taken far too many kicks to the head as people moved in their battles after he had initially tripped and knocked himself out. The Invisibility Cloak hid him from the fighters who didn't see him as they ran. After a thorough investigation, Poppy concluded Scorpius had been tripped by a spell (which wasn't actually aimed at him), hit his head pretty hard in the fall since the hex broke both his legs and proceeded to receive kick after kick to every inch of his body. His skull was cracked, his ribs snapped so horribly that one of his lungs had been punctured, both his wrists were broken, along with half a dozen fingers, and it had taken her the week alone just to heal the several fractures and breaks in his legs. She had told his parents that he would need a cane for the rest of his life, just because of the damage to his right knee. His patella was shattered beyond magical reconstruction.

Nonetheless, he was alive, and that was what mattered to his parents and his grandparents. Narcissa and Lucius were given a room to stay in since they were the only ones who managed to get Draco and Harry away from Scorpius' side. Granted, the first time it had happened, Lucius had to levitate the two of them out of the medical wing and into the room Albus had given the future parents.

Poppy had been kept very busy that first week. She had to deal with parents, Aurors and Order members before they decided who was stable enough to send to a proper hospital. Although Ginny was issued stable, Molly had insisted she stay at Hogwarts. It was also collectively agreed upon that Dean was to stay there, also. His state continued to get worse and worse as the hours went by. It worried them, since the days were counting down before the full moon. No one knew what would happen. Remus offered very little on the matter (solely because his lover refused to let him out of his sight), but he did say that he was certain Dean wouldn't become a full werewolf. He was sure the boy would be saved that horrific fate and believed he would have mood swings at the most and maybe a craving for red meat. They let him attend the funerals of those Greyback stole from them.

Fred's leg took some work. It was a magical wound, which made it exceedingly difficult to treat. He, too, would forever live with a limp and a gory scar above the knee where the limb had been literally chopped off. It had taken the better half of the week to regrow the bone and the nerves (which had to be sealed off from the rest of the world in a sanitised bubble to prevent infection; the twins had loved looking gruesome process so much that Poppy had to change the spell to make it opaque, just to keep them quiet). The skin and the muscle were much easier to fabricate. The pain of it all caused Fred to be on constant pain medication.

Their sister had been put into a body lock spell, along with the coma. She risked losing the ability to walk and damaging her internal organs more than they already were if she was able to move. Poppy wanted to move Ginny into a hospital so they could properly operate on her spine, but Molly and Arthur wanted their daughter to be in better health before the transfer. They were in denial when they thought she'd be able to attend Charlie's funeral. It was far too dangerous for her.

Crispin had cried for his best friend when he discovered the other boy's eyeless body. One of the Death Eaters had cut the boy's eyes from his head and only the right one had been saved. Despite the differences it would have caused, Crispin had gone as far as to offer his own eye up as a replacement. Of course, Julius hadn't accepted this. In fact, Julius seemed fine with it, especially when George presented him with a make-shift eye patch. He promised the Slytherin a special, one-of-a-kind patch when he and Fred could think of a great prank to go along with it, or something that worked like Moody's glass eye. Crispin, however, kept breaking down and it was only after George approached him that the reason came out. As it turned out, the fourteen-year-old had been crushing on his partner in crime for years and was over relieved that he would be fine. His plight warmed George's heart. Even though he knew for sure that nothing could ever happen between him and Julius, he was willing to give his eye for him.

Harry and Draco had taken to sleeping in the chairs by Scorpius' bed. Although a proper hospital would have been better for the teen, he couldn't have been taken there. It was far too risky. So, they stayed there, watching over him. Fred and Dean were gone from the hospital wing before he had woken, scaring the two of them.

Draco couldn't help but jump when he felt his father's hand clamp onto his shoulder on the eighth night. They were so tense, hoping for a sign of life, that the slightest of movements had their hearts pounding in hope.

"You should get some rest for the night," Lucius suggested, his eyes on Harry. Draco instantly summoned a blanket for himself, but Lucius removed it from his hands. "I meant in your own bed, son. You need proper sleep. You've been here for the past three nights."

"We'll be fine..."

"Although I'm glad your future husband and you have a few things in common, I am utterly disgusted in your shared bathing habits. It has been days since either of you have showered and I highly doubt being so foul is the best thing for your son."

Harry had to admit that a bath sounded like an amazing idea. Now that Hogwarts had been officially closed for the rest of the year, no one would be in the prefect's bathroom, which would do wonders for his stressed body. "He has a good point, love," Harry admitted, his hand reaching out for Draco's. "We could do with a bath. We'll have one together, alright?"

"But Scorp...we can't just leave him...it's because we left him that this happened," Draco argued, his eyes welling up with tears as he looked at his unconscious son. "I should have stayed by his side to make sure he would stay..."

"There's nothing we can do about that now." Harry's thumb stroked the back of Draco's hand. "And sitting here isn't going to make him get better any sooner. If we fall ill because we're here, then he'll feel extremely guilty and that's not going to help him one bit."

"Besides, your mother and I will stay here, right by his side, Draco," Lucius added, watching as Narcissa entered the room. She stopped by Ginny's bed, placing fresh flowers in the vase by her bed as Molly slept in the chair beside her. Despite their differences, the mothers had gotten closer as they both accepted Harry as their son in one way or the other. Narcissa had done the best she could, actually, to get to know the woman who had been motherly to her son-in-law. She made her way over to her grandson's bed and provided his bedside table with a few freshly picked flowers.

"Unfortunately, I doubt they'll cover that smell," she muttered as she sat down in her usual chair. "What is it...? Has Poppy tried a different salve or something? It reeks..."

Draco rolled his eyes as he stood. "Okay, we get the idea," he snapped, tightening his hold on Harry's hand. It confused Narcissa, which made Harry smile a little.

Before allowing Draco to drag him away, Harry brushed back Scorpius' hair and pressed a kiss on the newly healed skin of his forehead.

As they exited the medical wing, they ran into Hermione and Ron, who were walking hand in hand just as they were. Harry couldn't have been any happier for the two of them. It was just too bad that they had gotten together properly after Charlie's death. He had known the older man had been waiting for that moment for years.

It was hard for Ron to accept that his brother was no longer there. Having to say goodbye to him was one of the hardest things he ever experienced and never wanted to do it ever again.

"How are things?" Hermione asked softly, breaking away from Ron to hug Harry lovingly.

"He still isn't responding," Harry breathed. He felt Draco slip his arm around his waist, needing to feel the warmth of Harry's body. They had gotten so much closer in the past week, needing to know that they were there for each other. "And Ginny's not any better, either."

Ron bowed his head with a heavy sigh before he started to choke on his sobs. "This isn't how it was meant to happen," he gasped, trying to find enough oxygen to fill his lungs without giving in to the burning sensation behind his eyes. The tears had been winning every battle so far. "We weren't supposed to lose anyone, Harry. Scorpius should have been fine and Ginny should have been fine and Fred should have been...and Cha..." He couldn't even say his brother's name. "_He_ should still be here. Fucking Percy...fucking rat bastard..."

Hermione quickly embraced Ron, holding him close to her as he lost the fight with his tears. The fact that Percy hadn't been there for the funeral killed Ron inside. Arthur had been so upset with his son that he tracked him down and punched him good for what he had done. Percy was no longer considered family in the eyes of the Weasleys.

"How could he not be there? He should have died, or at least have had his spine snapped like Ginny..."

"That's a horrible thing to say, Ron," Hermione chided. "Come on; we should go put your mother to bed." Her hands ran up and down his back as she tried to comfort him. She looked up at Harry and Draco. "You two heading out for some sleep?"

Draco nodded his head. "Sleep and a bath."

"Not in that order," Harry added softly, his arm around Draco's shoulders so he could hold his lover close to him.

"Will you be there for breakfast?" Hermione asked, watching as Ron stepped out of her embrace and walked into the medical wing. He headed straight for his mother.

"I think we'll have breakfast with Scorpius..."

"You're not eating properly...he won't be happy. He's likely to lecture you about that when he wakes up."

"He better be bloody terrified of the lecture I'm going to give him when he finally wakes up," Draco nearly snarled. "We told him _specifically_ not to leave the Room of Requirement, but the bloody Gryffindor-wannabe had to play the hero, didn't he? Why the hell did I procreate with the king of the hero genes?"

Harry ignored the insult and kissed Draco on his forehead. It was obvious why they had children together. He couldn't possibly imagine being any more in love than what he was in. Draco was perfect for him.

"Anyway," Harry sighed heavily, his arm tightening possessively around Draco, "we should hurry up. I think I'm about to fall asleep on my feet."

Hermione gave him a weak smile before she nodded her head. "Yeah...I should hurry up as well." She gave the both of them a kiss on the cheek and followed in Ron's footsteps, heading towards Molly, who was now awake.

"Come on, you," Harry whispered to Draco as he steered his lover down the hallway. "We're in desperate need of a long, relaxing bath, don't you think?"

Draco reached around Harry and let his hand slip into the brunette's back pocket of his jeans. "Yeah, I think we are, too." Harry dipped his head and kissed Draco's cheek swiftly. "I love you so much," Draco breathed. "I cannot wait to marry you and to have our Scorpius and our Lily together."

Harry tightened his arm around Draco's shoulders and directed him towards the prefect's bathroom. When he thought about how long it had taken for the blood to be completely washed from Scorpius' hair, he shuddered. Poppy had let the two of them wash it out once his head wounds had finally closed over completely.

"I'm scared," Draco whispered. "What happens when he wakes up? He did what he was meant to do. You defeated the Dark Lord...what if he's not unconscious and has already disappeared...?"

Harry shushed Draco. He didn't want his lover thinking those things. "He's hurt, Draco. He's still here with us. We're not ready to let him go just yet.

-

Severus curled up in bed with Remus, spooning him gently so not to harm his raw body.

"When are you going to stop treating me like glass?" Remus asked weakly when Severus cushioned his head on his bicep. Despite his anger towards his lover, he sighed happily when Severus started to lather his shoulder and upper back with loving kisses.

"I'm not going to let you go, until we're ready to get married," Severus claimed and Remus could feel him grinning against his skin.

"Why are you allowed to go places pre-wedded bliss and I'm not? Where did you go this morning while I was stuck here in bed...?" He broke off when the warmth of Severus' body disappeared. When it returned, a gold ring dangled in front of his face.

"Is this a better proposal?"

There was a sarcastic look on Remus' face as he turned around to face his lover. "You do realise that when I do marry you, you have to stop treating me like this. I figured you wouldn't want to marry me because of that."

"I'd choose marrying you over having that complete control of your life, believe it or not," Severus told Remus tenderly. "Would you like to be married to me?"

"I'd love to marry you, Severus," Remus responded, cuddling into Severus' chest. The potions master slipped the ring onto Remus' finger swiftly. "You are overly good at being sneaky, Sev." Severus' arms wrapped tighter around Remus' body, hugging him as closely as he could. "I love you."

"The moment Draco and Potter can be there for it, we'll get properly wed.

A quick kiss was pressed to Severus' lips. "How about Scorpius? Did you see how he was?"

"He hasn't been getting any better. Thomas isn't doing well, either."

Remus thoroughly hated learning that about Dean. He wanted to know that the boy was getting stronger and stronger by the minute, rather than the negative truth.

"A wedding would be a nice change," Remus commented fondly, his fingers winding through Severus' hair. He paused, bringing his hand down to his face so he could see the plain gold band wrapped around his finger. "It really is beautiful. I'm surprised your taste is this good..."

Severus pinched the other man's rear, silencing him in a way that was playful enough to take the sting away. "Focus on the wedding..."

"Yes, Professor Snape."

He received another pinch for that.

-

The soothing water had never felt so good before. Harry and Draco had bathed in the prefect's bathroom before since the battle, but as the days wore on and Scorpius seemed to get further and further away from them, relaxation was a must. Harry had stepped into the pool first and had allowed Draco to curl up on his lap with his back against Harry's chest.

"This has to be a first," Harry muttered into Draco's neck as he massaged the blonde's biceps. "You're this damn close to me, naked, and I'm not aroused in the slightest. I don't like our son being in a coma...it takes away my sex drive. I'm a seventeen-year-old...I'm supposed to be horny at all times."

Draco leant back, resting his head on Harry's shoulder. "All I can focus on is Scorpius...I'm not about to accept any offer you make anyway. Our boy is so far away from us, Harry. How are we supposed to cope with that?"

"I honestly don't know."

"I don't like this at all, love. I feel like my whole world's about to end. If Scorp doesn't wake up, I don't know what I'll do."

Harry's arms tightened around Draco. "I know exactly how you feel, Draco, but there's nothing we can really do about it. When Scorpius is ready to wake up, he will. Right now, he needs to heal and that's what he's doing."

"I just want him to snap out of it already."

"Me too." Harry kissed Draco's temple, trailing his hands up the other boy's chest to hold him closer to him.

-

He rarely ever got angry, so when Albus threw down his wand in frustration, the portraits knew something was wrong. Rather than disposing of the body, like he had told everyone he had done, he had kept Nagini's dead body, intent on finding out what had really happened during the transfiguration. What Nagini had spoken had been the truth. She had once been an average snake who was used as an experiment to make Albus stronger. He had used her to discover and push his boundaries, regardless to the pain she felt. Since he wasn't capable of understanding the language of the snakes, he couldn't understand her discomfort and didn't let it get to him. Even as he turned her human the first time, there were still parts of her which he couldn't properly transfigure. Certain parts of the brain and internal organs were wrong. They were still the way they originally were.

And now, she had been human enough to reproduce with one. True to his words, she had gutted herself to keep her baby from him. However, it was he who had taken her life. He had grabbed the knife from her and had slit her throat before he had cleaned himself off to make it look like a suicide to anyone who walked in on them. The portraits surrounding him were bound to say nothing of this. They weren't allowed to divulge information on current headmasters, whether if they were breaking the law or not.

It vexed him to think Voldemort was powerful enough to create reproductive organs within her. The child she had been carrying was mammal. It wasn't growing within an egg. It was living off her own body. The umbilical cord was intact within her. Her blade had destroyed most of the child. The embryo was barely a month old, so there wasn't much for her to destroy. Similarly, there wouldn't have been much for Albus to examine anyway. The child was so small that no one would have noticed a bump. She wouldn't have even started to feel the symptoms.

Albus ran a frustrated hand over his face. He wanted nothing more than to examine just what it was that Nagini would have given birth to. He wanted to see what Voldemort was capable of. He wanted to see what Voldemort's child would have been.

Although Albus had been the first to transfigure her like that, Voldemort was the one who surpassed him. He had figured out how to make her insides as human as possible.

And yet, it was Harry who had defeated him. Sure, it had nothing to do with his magical prowess, but he had still killed the greatest Dark Lord ever known.

There was nothing Albus could do. His brain bounced back and forth between what made sense and what didn't.

-

Despite their every attempt to get a good night's sleep, Draco and Harry couldn't manage it. Cuddled up together, feeling the warmth of each other, they fluttered in and out of their dreams, often jolting awake when the image of Scorpius' beaten body flickered into their minds.

So when Lucius shook Draco awake, the two of them sat up faster than the blonde man had expected, sending him backwards.

"He's awake," Lucius told them softly, trying to calm his son down. "Narcissa's with him now...Scorpius woke up and he wants to see the two of you."

It took a while for the words to sink in for Draco. By the time he swung his legs out of the bed, Harry was already standing and throwing on the closest sweater.

"That little shit is grounded for his entire life," Draco swore. He didn't even bother with a jumper and followed Harry out of the room.

-

**I decided on posting this Thursday night since I'm most likely not around for Friday. I gotta get this mobile ECG taken off early and then I have a long, **_**long**_** trip to go to my mother's place (twas her birthday today!!). She lives six hours away from me, so I haven't seen her since June...sorry it's so short, but I got what I needed to get done.**

**Anyway...enjoy and continue reviewing and voting on my profile...!**


	21. Chapter Twenty One plus Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Do not own. I'm not profiting from this hobby of mine.**

-

**When Time Isn't Enough**

**Chapter Twenty-One plus Epilogue**

-

_I liked to imagine the proposal between my parents. I never knew how it would have happened because Papa hated talking about Daddy, but I liked to think it was sweet and loving. All I knew was that he proposed on the anniversary of Uncle Sev and Uncle Remus' wedding. _

_I've dreamt of it before. I imagined Papa down on one knee, with Dad in shock. Of course, my dad knew it was going to happen, since they were so madly in love with each other, but Papa's timing was just right, in my head at least. I like to think Dad didn't have to think for very long. He had made up his mind the moment he saw Papa bow done. Uncle Remus had given him the ring-it had been a gift from Sirius Black, and that wasn't my imagination. That one was real. Papa used to wear the ring on a necklace after Dad's death. Uncle Sev had gone in to get it and that was how they discovered he was a spy. Papa's body was never retrieved, so I could never wear it. I really wanted to, though. _

_It would have been so beautiful if Dad had woken up to see the ring on the pillow next to him. I had seen that in a movie once and had instantly wondered if that was how Papa did it. Now that I've met them when they were younger, I could see that happening. Papa seemed to be the type of person who would do things that way. I thoroughly doubt he would have baked it into a muffin or put it in Dad's food. It's far too cliché, and Dad would probably sulk about getting the ring so dirty and covered in saliva if he truly had put it in his mouth. And then you get those strange Muggles who propose during massive sporting events or on the radio or with those signs on the back of aeroplanes, but Papa wouldn't do something that extravagant. He'd want something personal and intimate. _

_He could have always done it after making love, which is a way I could see my dad appreciating. I know how much they love each other and the idea of that would suit them just fine._

_I wonder if it would be any different this time around._

_I was hoping to catch the proposal this time, just to see if it happened the way I wanted it to. I really, really did. _

_-_

It didn't take him long to recover after he woke up. Now that he was awake, Poppy could help him even more, focusing on where it hurt most or where it didn't feel right. When he found out about the permanent limp, he had originally cried, but was reassured that things would get better. He would learn how to live with his disability.

Scorpius was overly relieved to see both his parents, though, and it shocked him to see his grandmother watching over him as he woke up. He had cried himself dry; clinging on to her, until Draco gently pried him off her. When Scorpius had seen who had grabbed him, it made him cry even harder as it all overwhelmed him. In a few years, he was going to be born and he would be given the life he had always wanted.

That also meant that Scorpius had to go back soon.

It took him three days to be up and walking, albeit with a cane. Lucius had given him his own, having gotten it strengthened just for him. Of course, this had the Malfoy heir crying again.

That third day was also the day Ginny woke. The spell cast on her body was enough to keep her from moving, and it also prevented any emotional stress the news would have brought upon her. The Weasleys were overly thankful for that. From her position on the bed, she could see Fred's limp out of the corner of her eye, and had dared to ask where Charlie was. It was George who explained it, but her reaction was beyond them. The spell keeping her calm stopped her from feeling the emotions she should have been feeling. It irked them, even though they knew about the spell.

By Scorpius' fifth day awake, he had decided that he had to leave. He knew he had to do this. His job had been done. And while others fussed about Dean and his first full moon since the incident, Scorpius was getting to know his parents and his grandparents as much as he possibly could before going back to the hell that was his life. He could only hope that the changes he had made in this time would reflect in his own time. It would be heaven for him to go back to his own time only to find his dad there with him.

It was hard to say goodbye to his loved ones. Harry and Draco had been so wonderful to him. They had loved him with everything they had and did everything they could to be good parents.

He decided he would leave the day after Severus and Remus married, which was six days after his woke up.

They hadn't wanted anything big. The two of them were happy with a wedding between the two of them and the ones they considered family. So, they headed down to Hogsmeade with Draco, Harry and Scorpius to the church there. Although witches and wizards were against the church, as were homosexuals, churches were still used for weddings between the magical and the gay. In the wizarding world, a marriage between two men or two women was seen to be exactly the same as a Muggle heterosexual marriage. It was still legally binding and the couple was allowed to adopt as many children as they liked.

In their best dress robes (Severus was more than a little miffed that Remus was wearing the same robes as he had worn to James and Lily's wedding), they stood in front of a minister so that he could declare them husbands. Naturally, he was a wizard given the right to wed same-sex couples from the Ministry of Magic. However, he still donned the priestly clothes and swore them under the Catholic god.

They had forgone the wedding party. They didn't need anyone else up there with them. Scorpius had originally volunteered to be the page boy, but that didn't work out as much as he had wanted. Rather than carrying the rings up to his 'uncles', he ended up stumbling and falling into his dad's lap as he suggested it. They didn't say any vows, didn't want there to be photos taken and didn't want a reception. It was just the ceremony, which was nothing more than them repeating what the minister said. They signed the marriage certificate and that was it. They were husbands, wearing matching rings for all to see.

Scorpius had held back his tears when he saw his parents sitting on the pew next to him. They were holding hands with very shy smiles on their faces. Draco's cheeks were painted pink, which shocked Scorpius. He was certain his dad was the more forward of the two when it came up to their relationship.

Severus and Remus then excused themselves for their honeymoon, taking time away from Hogwarts for as little as two weeks. They didn't want to stick around. Everything was just so overwhelming, and knew that Hogwarts was needed for those mourning and recovering.

Even in Scorpius' time, Severus wasn't very emotional. He kept to himself and hardly ever sought out an embrace from the teen. However, before he and Remus took off, he had grabbed the shorter man into his arms, holding him close.

"Thank you, for everything you've done," he muttered into the patch of blonde hair just below his chin. "I hope everything's alright in your time when you go back. Don't hesitate to give us a message. Even if you have to steal something from this time to send it back, I want to know that you're alright, okay?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Uncle Sev," Scorpius replied, one arm returning the hug. The other was firmly placed on the cane.

The small family made their way back to Hogwarts without the newlyweds, only to be ambushed by Julius and Crispin at the front door.

"We heard you're planning on leaving us soon," Crispin announced, his eyes on Scorpius. For that, Scorpius was thankful. He'd much rather Crispin's eyes on him rather than Julius' real and magical eyes. As it turned out, Fred and George made him an eye very similar to Moody's. It didn't swivel, but it allowed him to see things different. They had Poppy connect it properly and Julius was using the x-ray vision of it the very next day. He could do that, zoom in as if it was a camera and see through Glamours as if they were nothing. However, he couldn't do more than one at the one time.

"Yeah...do you really think returning to your papa in _that_ state would be the best idea?" Julius asked, looking at Scorpius' knee. He cringed before he looked up at Scorpius' face. "This is so strange...I can see why you need that there cane."

Scorpius frowned. "Yeah, well, I need to get back to my proper time. I don't belong here. And how the hell are you supposed to head back to your family looking like that?" He motioned towards the fake eye.

"My little sister hates it already," he grinned toothily. "I can't stop thanking the twins. They are amazing. It hurts my head a little to think that Professor Lupin is one of the Marauders. It just about kills me to think that he just married Professor Snape, too."

Crispin gave him a wry smile. "He's not homophobic; just a little disappointed."

"The Marauders were supposed to marry the most gorgeous, sexy women around. Professor Snape doesn't qualify for any of those three options."

Scorpius' frown deepened. "You do realise that I'm a grandson of one of the Marauders, right? I don't want to think that sort of stuff about my grandmother."

That had Harry glaring at the young Slytherin. "I don't want to hear you saying that about my mother, either."

The two quickly 'yes sir'ed without question. The last thing you did was piss off the killer of the greatest Dark Lord known to mankind.

Harry eyed Crispin. The twins had told him why the young Slytherin had been so distraught over the state of his best friend. He was hoping that everything would work out alright for the two of them, but from what Crispin had said, Julius was one to follow skirts. The other boy would never feel the same for Crispin, and from the look Crispin was giving Julius at that moment, the boy's prior statement had stung. The fact that Julius wanted the Marauders to marry women had hurt Crispin.

"What's wrong?" Julius asked, his eyes on Harry. He turned to his right to look at Crispin. "Are you okay?"

Crispin blinked a few times before he answered. "Yeah...why?"

"You were getting looked at pretty strangely, that's all. I was worried there was something wrong with you. Did you get yourself checked out at the medical wing like I asked you to?"

"I did that right after the battle, Julius, just like I told you."

Julius didn't seem too convinced.

"Why? Is he having problems?" Harry asked with concern.

"He's been overly depressed," Julius told him, despite Crispin's objection. "He doesn't smile anymore and it's driving me nuts. He used to smile and laugh and joke all the time, but he's been so damn down since that battle...I'm worried he was cursed or something. Or worse-he could have been on You-Know-Who's side all along and is depressed that he lost..."

"It's not that," Crispin snapped hatefully. "It's definitely not that."

That had Julius stepping up closer to the other boy. "But there's something wrong? I knew it...why are you keeping this from me...? What did Pomfrey say about it? Is there a cure? Will it wear off or...?"

"It's nothing, Julius." Crispin stepped back, shaking his head. "I haven't been cursed..."

"Then what's wrong?" The words were shouted, shocking the four of them. Julius moved forward again, grabbing Crispin's shoulders. "You're hiding something and I'm scared out of my mind that it's hurting you and that it'll take you away from me and I don't want to be away from you ever...the last time you told me you were fine, you nearly lost a finger because of an infection, so I don't really trust you word when you say you're fine because you're not. You're my best friend..."

Crispin shrugged off Julius' hands, surprising the small family that was watching them. They got the sudden urge to run away, actually. "_That's_ what's wrong, Julius!" he exclaimed with frustration, stung by Julius' words. His entire face was red. "We're _best friends_. I don't want that..."

"Excuse me? What? I lose my eye and I'm suddenly not good enough to be your friend anymore? You little shit..."

His words were cut off short when Crispin closed the distance between them with a single step and crushed their lips together clumsily. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it got the message through. "That's what's wrong with me. I want to be more than just best friends," Crispin explained softly when he pulled away from his friend. He took a few sheepish steps back, his head lowered, and refused to make eye contact.

"Crispin..."

"No...you got yourself hurt in that fight and you acted as if everything was fine...I was going out of my mind with worry, Julius. I was terrified I was going to lose more than just my friend. I thought I was losing the person I lo-liked and it scared me. You have no idea what that's like. So there; that's what's wrong with me."

"I don't know how to react to this, buddy," Julius admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, it's not every day your best friend admits to liking you _that_ way, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Just...we're still best friends, though, aren't we?"

"Of course...but don't kiss me again until I can get this all figured out, okay?" Crispin nodded his head quickly, his face as red as Julius had ever seen it. "Wow, this really explains the whole Annette thing, doesn't it?"

"I can't believe you thought I was jealous of you, you wanker," Crispin hissed.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be a closet case crushing on me."

Draco came out of nowhere, his arm wrapping around Crispin's shoulders. "I can help you find a boy if you want to."

"Draco," Harry grumbled, objecting to his lover's words. "Just because he's interested in Julius doesn't mean he's fully crossed that line."'

The blonde stuck his tongue out at Harry before he grinned at Crispin. "You're on this side, aren't you?"

"I don't think so," Crispin argued, his face getting redder and redder. Julius' face also started to darken. "Julius is really the only guy I've been attracted to."

"And what is it that you like about him?"

"Draco, leave him alone. I'm sure he doesn't want to have this conversation in front of us _and_ Julius," Harry tried again, receiving a thankful look from the trapped Slytherin.

"Is it the fact that he has absolutely no breasts to speak of, or is it a lot lower than that?"

"Dad!" This time, Scorpius tried.

When Draco continued, Harry whipped out his wand and forced his silence through a spell. "Sorry about that," he said to Crispin as he physically pried his lover off the boy. "I think he's trying to find a distraction since Scorpius' is leaving."

Draco punched his arm lightly for that before he hugged the Gryffindor, tears shining in his eyes. He really didn't want Scorpius to leave them just yet, if ever. The child had changed his life since the moment he had arrived.

And it was completely true. It was because of Scorpius that Harry and Draco had gotten close, even before Draco knew that Harry was to be Scorpius' father. Their friendship had begun once Draco had changed sides, and he originally did that for Scorpius' sake.

-

It didn't take long for Scorpius to clean up after he finished preparing the potion he would drink to send him back to his time. His parents had watched his every move while he was making it. They were trying to get in as much time with him as possible.

"You know, I am gonna be born in a few years," Scorpius said softly as Draco pulled him into a tight embrace. "You can wait that long, right? It has to be the same as it was in my time. You'll meet my mother the same way and you'll know that she's the one who'll carry me and Lily. When I get home, I'll take care of everything. Maybe, you'll be alive, Dad. I'll get to live the way I wanted to."

"You can stay as long as you like, Scorpius," Draco objected weakly. "You can stay here until you're properly born. We don't mind."

Scorpius laughed in his dad's shoulder. "You'll mind," he claimed. "Pretty soon, the two of you will want your private time and things just can't happen if I'm always around."

"I'm sure you're old enough to know that you aren't to open the door if you can hear the bedsprings."

"Dad!"

Harry chuckled at his future-husband's antics before he ruffled Scorpius' hair. "He has a point," he agreed with Draco. "You're welcome here for as long as you want to be here."

"That's not fair to me or to...me, I suppose." Scorpius stepped away from his dad before elaborating. "You two have this image of me from what you know of _this_ me. For all we know, the other me will turn out to be completely different because of the different circumstances in his life." He shook his head. It certainly was weird to speak about himself in such a manner. "I mean, the kid you two raise will be a baby. You'll have a new born to deal with, and that's not the easiest thing, I can imagine. It's not as if I'm going to start out like how I am today..."

"We're well aware of that, Scorp," Draco told him. "We just don't want you to leave us."

"Well...I have to go back. Otherwise, you two won't have that time to just be a couple. You'll go straight from falling in love to being parents and that's not the smart thing to do. And I really need to get back to see if everything's alright in my own time. I want to see if the both of you are alive because of what happened here. I _need_ to see."

Harry grabbed his son this time, holding him close to his chest. "Fine," he said, ignoring Draco's squeak of disapproval. "But make a potion now so you can come back if things didn't work out properly, okay? We'll make random potions and store them in a place you can get them from, just in case. We won't remove them so you'll always have them in the future. Is that a good idea?"

"And where would that be?"

"My room in the Manor," Draco said. "You do live in the Manor, don't you?"

"Yeah, we do."

"Then I'll put them on top of the bookshelf."

Scorpius couldn't help but grin at that. "You mean Papa will put them on top. You won't be able to reach."

He received a thump from Draco for that. "Yes, well, your papa can do it." Just to spite him, Harry deliberately bent his head low to brush his lips against Draco's cheek. "Piss off."

The two taller teens smiled at each other before Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's chest from behind, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something in private?" Scorpius asked, almost sheepishly.

Harry nodded his head without question and released Draco so that the blonde could exit the room. The look he gave him told Harry that Draco expected to know what was going on the moment they could get their own private moment together.

When Draco closed the door behind him, Scorpius sat up on one of the desks, looking at his papa expectantly, even though he hadn't asked the question yet. Harry sat himself opposite his son, waiting for the boy to ask him what he wanted.

"You intend on proposing to Dad, right?"

"Of course," Harry grinned, a slight blush tinging his nose and cheeks. "In due time, of course. We're only seventeen at the moment, so that's a little extreme right now; even though we do know it's going to happen, it's much too early to do something like that."

"How are you going to do it?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at the inquiry. It certainly was a strange one. "I don't know...I haven't thought of that just yet. Why?"

"Because I've always had this image in my head of how you would have done it, but since we never really talked about these sorts of things, I never knew what you'd do."

That had Harry lowering his head. "I'm sorry for how our relationship was like, Scorpius. I really am. I can't imagine that being me. I've always wanted a family and to think I'd treat my own son as coldly as you say I did really confuses me. I like the idea of us getting along..."

"You couldn't handle Dad's death," Scorpius told him with a heavy sigh. "It just about killed you on the inside. And you also lost Lily, Papa. Your daughter died..."

"_You_ lost everything, Scorpius," Harry argued. "You lost your dad, your sister and your papa...you're so young and yet you act like an adult and you've lost everything you've ever loved. I don't know how you've lived through it all. I would have killed myself a long time ago if I was you."

He paused, seeing Scorpius' tears.

"I coped somehow and I got here and it's enough. I can go back to my time happily, knowing that you and Dad really love me and that you didn't hate me for looking like Dad. I understand how hard it was for you, but it's okay. I have better memories of the two of you now and I know that in five years, I'm going to be born again and that version of me is going to have the most amazing life ever. That Scorpius will know love and happiness and that protective streak all older brothers have for their little sisters. It's going to be alright now."

The Gryffindor stood and hugged his son close to his chest. "We're going to love both versions of you for the rest of our lives, Scorpius. No matter which timeline you're in, or which timeline we're in, we'll always love you. The Harry Potter who raised you loves you as much as this one does and nothing will ever change that."

Harry wiped Scorpius' tears from his eyes. "And I love you, too," Scorpius whispered. "You and the future you and every other you in existence."

A sure hand moved through Scorpius' hair. "I reckon it'd be on one knee," Harry admitted to Scorpius, which had the blonde laughing weakly.

"I figured as much."

-

They had gone up to Albus' office to send Scorpius off. He wanted to go back to where he had left, hoping to find everyone alive.

"You're leaving?" Albus asked, standing as the three teens filled his office.

Scorpius nodded his head wordlessly and checked to see if he had everything. He was trying his hardest to ignore his parents, but it certainly wasn't easy. The last thing he wanted to do was leave them, but he had to know how things had turned out in his real time. He didn't belong there; he wasn't even born, technically. With that being the foremost thought in his mind, he had to return.

"I have everything," he announced, turning towards his parents. He gave them both hugs and kisses, but tried not to linger so that he didn't have any time to change his mind. "I love you both so much."

"Love you too," Harry muttered, kissing his son's temple and Draco did the same.

With a teary wave, Scorpius reached into his pouch and pulled out a vial. He downed it in one breath and was gone.

-**When Time Isn't Enough-**

It had been on one knee. Harry had proposed to Draco on the third anniversary of Scorpius' appearance. They were twenty.

The wedding had been little more than six months afterwards. It was a simple ceremony at the Malfoy Manor with friends and family (though, Scorpius was notably missing), with Ron being Harry's best man and Theo being there for Draco. Bill and Fleur's baby girl was their flower girl.

None of Draco's distant relations had been invited. It was immediate family and friends to make it all the more intimate.

Ron and Hermione were engaged and had started to plan their own wedding. Theo had been around the block with a few dozen men and women and was still searching for 'the one'. Draco was certain he or she was out there, but his older friend was looking in all the wrong places. He was only twenty; he still had a lot of time to find what he was looking for.

Harry and Draco, however, had less time to find it. Scorpius was to be born in two year's time and they still hadn't found the woman who would give birth to their child.

Just the same, Draco hadn't yet crated the potion to allow their child to have their DNA. Scorpius had taken the journal with him, leaving him with absolutely no direction. He had managed the design for the potion that had sent Scorpius that far back in time, but that was as far as he had gotten.

But then they ran into someone who changed their lives completely.

Draco had an addiction and it was the shopping at Muggle London. He had never been there in his younger years but found it amazing. They would fly to the closest Muggle train station so that they could pretend they were Muggles for a day. And to Harry's surprise, Draco loved it. The brunette had a feeling Draco just wanted to live like Scorpius had, but it didn't matter. It brought them to what they needed to find.

The train they got on was always packed after the third stop. Anyone who came on at that point was lucky to get a seat and Harry and Draco had chosen seats close to the door.

A woman waddled into the carriage. She was no taller than Draco, but she was as round as a watermelon. She was at least seven months pregnant, but Harry suspected she was due. The woman had a suitcase rolling behind her.

Draco instantly offered her his seat, moving over so he could sit on Harry's lap. Harry had warned Draco against such displays since Muggles weren't as accepting of homosexual relationships as wizards were, but he had generally ignored him.

"Thanks," she grinned, her eyes instantly locking onto Draco's left hand. She could easily see the platinum wedding band on his fourth finger and then she saw Harry's matching one. "I swear, you're the first person to offer me a seat in three months. No one's willing to give up their spot for anyone these days."

"Some people just need a good hexing," Draco agreed before he could stop himself. He winced as Harry pinched the blonde's hip, though did the best he could to keep it out of the woman's sight.

"Bloody Muggles." That had the two wizards beaming at her. "My name's Sasha Mornington. I'm a Squib."

Draco smiled at her. "I'm Draco," he responded. "And he's Harry."

Her grin was nearly wiped off her face when she looked at them in shock. "Draco and Harry Potter?"

"Well, it's Draco Malfoy-Potter, but...ow!" Draco hissed, swatting away Harry's pinching fingers. "Yeah, that's us."

"Wow," she breathed before she started to smile again. "Well, thank you."

It took them by surprise. "For what?" Harry asked.

"For saving us all, even though you didn't know the vast majority of us and probably didn't want to."

"I think you're the first person to ever thank me. You're welcome, I guess."

She had a beautiful smile, the two realised. It faded as she groaned, running a hand over the swell of her belly. "This baby's one hell of a kicker. I've never had one this agitated before."

"How many have you had?" Draco asked. His hand clasped onto Harry's as his eyes shone down at Sasha. He was clucky and wanted his son to be in their lives already. Harry was exactly the same, though.

"This is my sixth."

"Holy shit," Harry said before he could stop himself. "_Six_? How do you manage that? My best friend was the second youngest in a family of seven and their place was a nightmare during Christmas."

Sasha sighed. "Fortunately, I don't see the little brats ever again after I give birth to them," she explained. "I'm a surrogate mother. This baby girl belongs to a gorgeous couple in London. She's had four miscarriages, so they got in contact with me."

The majority of her statement was lost to the two of them. Draco's eyes had instantly found Harry's.

"We're looking for the right surrogate mother, actually," Harry told her softly. "We've wanted a baby for years now. Draco's been looking in to a potion to make the baby one hundred percent ours. It takes away the DNA of the mother and replaces it with the second father."

"Well," she started, reaching for one of her bags. Draco picked it up for her and handed it over. "Here's my home phone number (she ignored Draco's groan-he hadn't yet figured out how to use the telephone). When you get it all set up, don't hesitate to give me a call. This one's due tomorrow, so I'll be up and working for another one in a little while."

Draco instantly nodded his head. Her smile alone had him convinced. And when Harry squeezed his hand, he knew his husband had agreed.

-

**Fin**

**-**

**Is the end...!! It's all completed!! No mores!! Okay, voting ends on Monday the twenty-second, and I MIGHT have the first chapter of the winning fic up by Christmas Day...no promises...it depends on how bored I get in the next week...so keep voting.**

**And THANK YOU so much for sticking with me throughout this story. I'm so glad you all liked it and followed it as you did.**

**But...can I please have some more reviews...? Final time for When Time Isn't Enough...?**

**Love you.**

**-Jinko**


End file.
